New in Town
by VolcomStoneBabe
Summary: After living in Maine her whole life, Sydney Curtis was ready to try something new and when her brother Johnny offered for her to move in with him, she jumped at the chance. She never expected to start hooking up with Johnny's best friend. OC/Derrick B.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town  
**

_Chapter 1_

"Um, excuse me sir," The young brunette woman said to a man passing by trying to get his attention. The man simply put his hand up in a gesture that said "not interested" and kept on walking. She turned to look the other way and spotted another man walking toward her. "Sir, excuse me, can you…" She began but the man didn't even spare her a glance as he walked away. "Miss, do you…" She said to a woman that crossed paths with the man she'd been trying to talk to. The woman simply looked the other way as she walked by. Sydney Curtis let out a breath as her shoulders sank in defeat. She'd only just landed at the airport less than an hour ago and she was already lost. The cab driver she'd had didn't speak much English and she tried her best to communicate the address her brother lived at. She got out of the cab when he pulled up downtown, thinking maybe her brother lived around here. It didn't take her long to figure out that the cab had taken her to the wrong place and to make matters worse, people around here weren't very friendly and didn't seem to want to help her out.

"You look like you could use some assistance," She heard a male voice say behind her. She turned her head and was faced with one of the most attractive men she'd seen in quite a while. He had an adorable smile on his handsome face, his curly hair resembled a small afro and his relaxed clothing did nothing to camouflage his fit form.

"I could but no one around here is very helpful." She said with a small smile.

He grinned and spread his arms wide in a welcoming gesture. "Well you are in luck. I happen to be the most helpful guy Tampa."

She gave a small laugh and rolled her suitcase behind her as she walked closer. "Well I'm looking for my brother's apartment but the cab driver dropped me off here." She said as she showed him the piece of paper in her hands that held the address her brother had given her.

He looked down at the piece of paper and looked up again with an eyebrow lifted in surprise as he recognized the address. "You Johnny's sister?" He asked.

She looked at him with interest. "You know my brother?"

He chuckled a little. "Sure do. He's one of my best buds."

"Do you train together?" She asked curiously.

He nodded. "Yeah, we used to be a tag team in fact." He stuck his hand out. "Derrick Bateman," He said as an introduction.

"Oh yeah, my brother's mentioned you before," But he forgot to mention how good looking his former partner was. She shook her hand and introduced herself. "Sydney,"

"Like the city?" He asked.

She smiled. As if she hadn't heard that one before, "Like the name," Was her response.

He grinned. "Well Sydney, how about I take you to Johnny's place?"

"Oh no," She said. "I couldn't ask that of you."

"You didn't ask, I offered. "He countered.

She smiled. "Still….If you could just point me in the right direction then that'd be great."

"I'll do you one better, I'll take you there myself." He said as he reached out, grabbing the handle of her suitcase and began rolling it down the street.

Sydney had to run to catch up with his long strides. "Okay, but at least let me carry my own luggage." She said, reaching for it.

"I got it. Besides, my car's just over here." He said, pointing ahead to a small parking lot. She followed him to his car and got in the passenger seat of his SUV as he put her suitcase in the trunk. "So Johnny said something about you moving here?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I've lived in Maine my whole life and I'm kind of ready to start fresh. Johnny offered for me to stay with him here for a while and I just jumped at the chance."

"Well I imagine we'll be seeing a lot of each other then," He said with a laugh. "I spend a lot of time at Johnny's place." Oh she only hoped he was telling the truth. She wouldn't mind seeing him every day.

"So what were you doing downtown?" She asked as the conversation died down.

He let out a sigh as he made a right turn. "Looking for a gift for my girlfriend," Dagger to the heart. Of course he had a girlfriend. Well there went her daydreams of them locking eyes, falling in love and having lots of little babies with curly hair. "Man, it's just so difficult. I found a scarf in a store that she might like but I don't know anything about what women want. You think a scarf is ok?"

The last thing she wanted to do was give him advice on what to get his girlfriend. But she was a big girl and she had to remind herself that she barely even knew this guy. "Well that depends, what kind of girl is she? Sporty? Girly? Business?"

"Hmm," He said and he honestly looked stumped. "Well, I guess girly." She resisted rolling her eyes. She could already picture her: tall, blonde, stylish and perfect.

"Well, women love jewelry."

He shook his head. "I just got her a…a…man, what do you call it? That thing that's on a necklace that opens up and holds a picture?"

She laughed; he was such a guy. "A locket?"

He snapped his fingers at her. "Yeah that's it. I just got her a locket for Christmas,"

"Hmm…" She said thoughtfully. "Well I mean a scarf could be good but you have to get her something else to go with it. Maybe a shirt or some shoes or something."

He nodded. "I wish I could just get her a gift card or some money and call it a day."

She smirked. "You definitely don't want to do that."

"Well I know that but wouldn't it be nice for women just to be able to go spend the money themselves and buy what they want instead of lying and keeping something they don't like or coming up for reasons why they need to return it?" He questioned.

She nodded. "I see the logic but women like the thought put into things. So even though we might not like it, we appreciate that you tried."

He thought it over for a second as he pulled into Johnny's apartment complex parking lot. "I still say money is the way to go."

She smiled. "Hey, I'm only trying to help. You do what you think is best."

"This is Johnny's official spot," Derrick announced as he pulled into a parking spot. "But it might as well be mine cause it's the only place I park when I'm over."

"Where does Johnny park then?" She asked as they climbed out of the car.

He grinned at her as he opened the trunk. "Not my problem." She laughed and rolled her eyes as she accepted her suitcase as he set it down in front of her.

"Well thank you for the ride Derrick, I really appreciate it." She said with a smile.

"No problem. I think I'll come upstairs with you and wait for Johnny to get home." He said once again taking her suitcase and began walking towards the stairs.

"You just hang out here when Johnny's not home?" She asked and couldn't help but hope he said yes. She would look forward to spending more time with Derrick without Johnny around. He has a girlfriend, she mentally reminded herself.

"I sure do. Not only does he have good food in his fridge, but his couch is way comfier than mine and he's hooked up with all the premium TV channels." He proclaimed as he stopped at the top of the stairs to make sure she was behind him. "Here, let me help you." He said as he reached for her hand, helping her make the last step which was oddly enough much steeper than the rest. "That last step's tricky."

"Thanks," She said as she followed him down the hall, trying to forget how tingly her skin felt when he held her hand. "Oh here, Johnny sent me a key. It's in here somewhere," She said when they stopped at Johnny's door. She zipped open her purse and started to rummage through it.

Derrick put his hand on hers to stop her rummaging. "It's okay, I've got it right here." He said as he brought his keys out of his pocket and put one of them into the lock on the door.

She lifted an amused eyebrow. "You have a key?"

He smirked. "We have each other's key's in case of emergencies. But obviously I abuse my privileges." He said as he pushed the door open, motioning for her to go in first. She hadn't expected much when it came to her brother's bachelor pad but the one thing she hadn't expected was the mess.

"This place is a pigsty." She said simply as she walked in.

"Hence the reason I only come over for food and TV." He said as he closed the door behind him and set her suitcase next to the wall.

She shook her head as she set her purse down next to her luggage and looked around to assess the damage. "Has he ever cleaned?"

He laughed as he walked into the living room and reclined on the couch. "I doubt it,"

She figured she'd have to clean it up at some point and when she walked into the kitchen to grab something to drink, she knew that time was now. She walked into the living room and stood with her hands on her hips. "Alright, all hands on deck," Derrick was mid-reach for the remote when she spoke and he looked up in confusion. "Damage control. We're cleaning."

He lifted an eyebrow and pointed to himself. "Me?" She nodded and walked back into the kitchen to look for some cleaning supplies. "But this is not my house." He said as he followed her.

She turned to him and thrust a large trash bag in his hands. "No but you did say you are here a lot so I'm assuming you've had some hand in this." He had yet to actually take the bag from her so she put her hand on his and forced him to grab it. When he finally took a hold of it she patted his hand and smiled. "Get to cleaning big guy."

**Thirty Minutes Later**

Johnny Curtis opened the door to his apartment with a smile. "Yo! Derrick, man you really got to stop parking-" He stopped his thought as he looked up and saw his friend in his living room putting trash into an already full garbage bag. "Dude…why are you cleaning my house?"

Derrick looked up with a slight smile and shook his head. "Your sister's a little firecracker."

Johnny frowned at his friends words. His sister? Derrick didn't know his sister. And what does that have to do with him cleaning his apartment?

"Jonathan Curtis, I cannot believe you live in this pigsty." Sydney said from behind him as she walked out of the kitchen. She talked in a stern voice though she had a smile on her face from seeing her brother again.

He turned around and grinned as he saw his sister. Even though they'd just seen each other for the holidays, it was always nice to have family around considering that didn't happen too often. "Hey Syd!" He said as he embraced her in a hug and spun her around. "What are you doing here? You told me you were coming January eighth." He said as he sat her on her feet.

She shook her head at him. "Johnny, it is the eighth!"

He frowned but the more he thought about it, the more he realized his sister was right. "Ah shit, I'm sorry, I've got my days confused. Did you get here ok? I was only at the gym, you should have called."

"Well I got a cab but he didn't know where he was going. He dropped me off downtown and luckily for me, I ran into your friend and he gave me a ride over." She said with a smile as she gestured over to Derrick.

Johnny looked over and saw his friend wearing a mile-wide smirk and his arms spread wide. "Hey man, no thanks necessary." Derrick announced.

Johnny just turned back to his sister without responding to his friend. He would thank him later. "Come on, let's go get something to eat and catch up," He suggested but she shook her head.

"No sir. We are not going anywhere until we get this place spick and span." Johnny looked over and saw Derrick with the trash bag still in his hand and he seemed to now understand what his friend had been saying earlier.

"Aw, come on Syd, we can do that later." He complained.

"No we can't, especially not if I'm going to be crashing on that couch." She pointed to the couch that was dirty and littered with food particles and wrappers.

Johnny looked over and nodded, understanding why she wouldn't sleep on that. "Alright but at least let Derrick go, there is no reason to hold my friend hostage."

She nodded and smiled when his friend immediately dropped the trash bag and threw his hands up in excitement. "I'm free!" He exclaimed.

"Thanks for your help Derrick. But don't expect to hear from Johnny until this place is spotless." She went into mom mode.

"What?" Johnny asked. "Come on, we gotta take a break sometime. This could take days!" He exaggerated.

She shrugged and then innocently looked at Derrick. "We could get this done faster if we have three people."

Derrick looked from Johnny's now pleading face, that asked him to stay and help so they could actually hang out tonight, to Sydney's smiling face, that, though he could never admit it out loud due to his relationship status, had him weak at the knees. He let out a sigh before picking up the trash bag and continuing his duty.

Syd clapped her hands. "Great, let's get moving!"

* * *

**A/N: New story, yay! Let me know what you guys think so far.**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town  
**

_Chapter 2  
_

"So sis, when is your stuff going to get here?" Johnny asked a couple hours later after the brother-sister pair and Derrick went to a local Mexican restaurant after cleaning up the apartment.

"Well, I kept most of my stuff in storage. But I do have some boxes coming here with some essentials I'll need until I make a decision on if I'm moving here permanently. The movers said they should get here tomorrow or the day after." Sydney explained as she popped a chip dipped in salsa into her mouth.

"That's good, let me know if you need anything though, we can always make a quick trip to the mall or something." Johnny said just before their waiter came to give them their drinks they'd ordered just a few minutes before. A margarita on the rocks for Sydney and beers for both Derrick and Johnny.

"So when's your next elimination for NXT?" She questioned before taking a sip of her drink. She'd never been much of a wrestling fan before but once her brother got signed on a developmental deal with the WWE, she committed her social life every Monday, Thursday, Friday, sometimes Sunday and now Tuesday to the TV set.

"Next Tuesday," Derrick answered, swallowing his beer. "You better watch it too cause it might be the last time you see your brother on WWE TV." He joked, slapping Johnny's shoulder in fake comfort.

Johnny and Sydney both rolled their eyes. "I'm sure he'll be just fine." She said to Derrick then turned her attention to her brother. "Not only is everyone at home voting for you but I've told all my college friends to and told them to spread the word. Plus, the last time I voted, I was in the library so I got onto every computer and voted for you,"

Johnny laughed his thanks and Derrick sent her a mock glare. "Hey little missy, that's cheating."

"What is? I'm just voting for my brother to ensure he wins." She said with a smile. "Besides, he probably doesn't even need my votes, I'm more than sure he's already captured the hearts of almost every teenage girl watching."

"You hear that Bateman?" Johnny asked, returning the slap he received with one of his own. "I capture hearts,"

Derrick took a swig of his beer before shaking his head. "I'm pretty sure it is I who has captured hearts. Have you seen my twitter? It's blowing up with marriage proposals!"

"Just because they want to marry you, doesn't mean they're loyal to you," Syd said pointing a tortilla chip at him before popping it in her mouth.

Johnny laughed. "Anyways man, how's Tabatha?" Tabatha, Sydney assumed, is Derrick's girlfriend.

"My girlfriend," Derrick confirmed to her. Tabatha? Really? The name just sounded so cold, so harsh, so…not someone who would be with this fun-loving guy sitting across from her. "She's good, got a photoshoot tonight." Syd resisted rolling her eyes. A model? Oh please! "I was actually looking for an anniversary gift earlier when I ran into Sydney."

"Oh so it's your anniversary?" She asked curiously.

He nodded as he scooped salsa onto his chip. "Yeah, but please don't ask me which anniversary. All I know is I have this little wall calendar in my apartment and on the eleventh she wrote "Anniversary" with little hearts and smiley faces. I took the hint,"

She laughed, as did her brother. "Did she dot her I's with hearts too?" Johnny asked, to which Derrick scowled at his friend.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, she did."

The siblings both threw their head back and burst into laughter. "Man, I can't wait to meet her," She said through her laughter. Though she didn't really want to meet his girlfriend, she knew she would eventually so she might as well act as if she did.

Johnny shook his head at his sister. "I don't even want to think how that's going to go down."

She furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

"Yeah, what's that supposed to mean?" Derrick asked.

Johnny let out a breath and turned to his friend. "Well, I mean, don't get me wrong here, but Tabs's is a bit…well…I mean she's got a bit of a jealousy streak in her. You spend most of your free time at my place and she's not going to like knowing that Syd's living there now." Oh great, Syd thought, just what she needed, a suspicious girlfriend breathing down her neck.

"Man, she doesn't have a jealous streak; it was just that one time!" Derrick defended his girlfriend.

"That hasn't been the only time, that's just the only time you remember because it was so bad!" Johnny shot back. "Do you not remember her challenging that bartender to a fight because she thought she was flirting with you too much?"

"I remember," Derrick confirmed. "But she was drunk and she apologized,"

Johnny rolled his eyes and turned his attention to his sister. "She's gonna give you a hard time, just be prepared." Syd's eyes widened slightly in surprise; this woman sounded crazy!

Derrick shook his head after he drank some of his beer. "No she's not. Besides, I'm not even interested in Sydney," He said gesturing to her. "No offense," He added.

"None taken," She lied. Ouch, that had hurt. Not like she expected him to profess his love for her but she definitely felt an attraction toward him and it was never nice to get denied like that in public.

Johnny just shook his head at his friend as he took a swig of his drink. "Whatever, I'm just warning her."

* * *

"I think I have an extra set of sheets and a pillow around here somewhere," Johnny said later that night after Derrick had gone home and Sydney was ready to get to bed. She watched him as he walked to the closet that was near the front door. He came back with a couple sheets and an old comforter as well as a pillow.

"Thanks," She said as she grabbed the bundle from him and began spreading it out on the couch. "You're place is actually really nice, you know, now that it's clean." She said sending him a pointed look.

He laughed as he sat down on his recliner and watched his sister make her bed. "So cleaning isn't really a priority," He defended with a shrug. "I'm glad you finally decided to come here, I've only been trying to get you to come visit for over a year now."

She sighed. "I know, but whenever I planned to come down here, something came up. Plus Garrett didn't really like me going anywhere without him." She said of her ex-boyfriend.

Johnny let out a heavy breath at the mention of his former friend. "I wish you would have told me about him earlier. I could have protected you better."

She shook her head as she fluffed the pillow. "But I needed to go through it on my own; I needed to get out of the relationship on my own." She explained as she pulled her suitcase over to pick out pajamas.

He shook his head. "Syd, he was hitting you." He said reminded her seriously. Just thinking about it made him want to bash the bastard's head in. "You needed my help,"

"No, I didn't. It's over now anyway, I'd rather not talk about it." She said and looked at him with pleading eyes. He pressed his lips together and nodded, knowing they'd approach the subject again another time.

"Alright well, I'll let you get some sleep," He said standing up. He walked over to her and bent down, pressing his lips to the top of her head. "I love you kid," He said softly, happy his sister was going to be living with him for a while.

She smiled at him. "Love you too J,"

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys, so sorry I haven't been able to update until now. Ahhh, so glad you guys like this story so far; it kind of just popped into my head a few weeks ago and I had to write it. Well, that and plus I absolutely love Derrick Bateman and haven't seen any stories for him up here so I figured there has to be someone else who likes him like me lol Anyways, thanks so much for reading and reviewing, let me know what you thought of this chapter! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town  
**

_Chapter 3  
_

The next day Sydney decided to take Johnny up on his offer to go get some clothes just in case her things didn't come until later than expected. Johnny dropped her off at the mall with a promise to be back in an hour and a half before heading off to the gym.

Sydney weaved in and out of stores slowly, taking her time. She got some tops, some underwear and even a cute pair of sandals. As the time grew closer to when Johnny was going to pick her up, she began to make her way back to the spot he'd originally dropped her off.

She looked into stores as she walked by, liking to people watch and window shop. She stopped and grinned as she saw a familiar form in a jewelry store. "Hey stranger,"

Derrick turned around in surprise and couldn't help but smile as he saw Johnny's sister. He briefly allowed himself to survey her body dressed in denim shorts, a loose white tank top and cute sandals. He forced himself to look at the bracelet in his hand to remind himself of his girlfriend. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Doing a little shopping while Johnny's at the gym. What are you doing in here?" She asked with a knowing grin as she nodded her head at the piece of jewelry in his hand.

"I was thinking about what you said yesterday about women loving jewelry. So I figured it probably wouldn't hurt to get Tabatha some again." He answered. "Actually, I'm glad that you're here. I can't figure out what to get her. Do you like this?"

She stepped forward to look at the bracelet closer. "That's really beautiful. I'd say since you just got her a necklace, get her something different. And no rings cause she will automatically think it's a proposal." She paused and looked at him. "Unless that's what you're looking to do."

"Oh, no, no, no," He finished with a laugh. "No proposal,"

Interesting, she noted. It was a little odd that he'd been dating Tabatha so long and found the thought of proposing so out there. "Ok so I think it's safe to go with a bracelet or a watch, they are very fashionable these days,"

Derrick nodded. "I think I'm going to go with this. You think she'll like it right?" He asked looking down at the bracelet.

She looked at it again. It was a very simple piece with subtle diamond details. "Well I don't know her but I do know that I would consider myself very lucky to receive that."

Derrick smiled at her. "Cool, thanks,"

She nodded. "Well, I better get going, Johnny will probably be here soon to pick me up."

"Alright, tell Johnny I'll probably stop by later today," He said as he watched her leave before going to a sales associate to pay for the gift.

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me," Syd said as she watched her brother devour a foot long sandwich. "You're going to eat all that?" She questioned as she nibbled on her own 6-inch sub.

"Growing boy," He said with his mouth half-full as he patted his stomach as if it wasn't flat and instead was a beer belly.

She rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the TV that was currently turned on to ESPN. "Can we watch something else?"

Johnny glanced over at her before taking a large bite of his sandwich. "No,"

"Fine," She said standing up, walking over to her suitcase before grabbing a book. "Mind if I go in your room and read?"

The lift of his eyebrow told her that he thought she was a nerd. "Go ahead," He answered before turning his attention back to the TV. She tucked her book under her arm and grabbed her sandwich and water before going into Johnny's room, closing the door behind her. Luckily she'd had the good sense yesterday to clean his room up a little bit so it wasn't a complete disaster. Though there were some clothes thrown haphazardly on the floor it wasn't something that she couldn't live with. She smoothed the comforter down before taking a seat on the bed, setting her things down next to her before she opened the book and began reading.

She read her book with interest as she munched on her small sandwich, allowing herself to get transported into the fictional world of romance. She briefly wondered why it was so easy for women in these romance novels to find the perfect guy at the perfect time in the perfect place. She couldn't help but wish she would find her perfect man, and soon.

The more she read, the more absorbed she became and before she knew it, she'd already read half the book and forced herself to mark the page she was on and come back to it later. She crumpled up her sandwich wrapper, grabbed her water glass and opened up the door to take her into the living. "Oh," She stopped in her tracks when she saw that Johnny was no longer alone, his best friend reclining on the couch next to him. "Hi Derrick," She commented, walking into the kitchen to discard her trash. She came out and set her book on her suitcase before turning back to the men. "Did you find something for your girlfriend?" She asked, taking a seat on the recliner near the couch.

Derrick smiled. "I did, I got that bracelet I showed you."

Johnny looked between them, confused. "What are you two talking about?"

"Oh, I ran into Sydney today at the mall while I was shopping for a gift for Tabs," Derrick explained.

Johnny nodded and glanced over at his sister. He liked to think he knew his sister pretty well and he'd definitely seen that look in her eyes before. He hated to think his little sister had a crush on his best friend, who was taken, especially right after breaking up with her abusive ex-boyfriend only months before. He mentally reminded himself to have a talk with her about it later, when they were alone. "So when are you giving it to her?" He questioned casually.

Derrick let out a breath. "That's the question of the day it seems. I took her to lunch earlier and we were talking about when we were going out to dinner. Our anniversary is Tuesday and since I'm going to be on the road, she suggested we have dinner Monday night." He made a face. "Of course, I reminded her that Raw is on Monday nights so we should do it tonight." Johnny sucked in a breath, knowing what was coming. "And now she's all mad at me because she thinks that I care about wrestling more than her." Syd couldn't help but note that he didn't argue that point. He turned his attention to her and sent her a smirk. "No offense or anything, but you women can make an argument out of anything,"

She laughed. "It's an art form," She said with a shrug.

Derrick laughed back before turning his attention back to Johnny. "Anyways, she's not speaking to me right now so she's probably going to get her way and we'll have dinner tomorrow night and I'll miss Raw," He threw his hands up in a 'what can you do' gesture.

Johnny shook his head though he had a smile on his face. "I'm glad I don't have to deal with that shit. You know what you should do? You should pick the place and just pick somewhere that is airing Raw."

Syd shook her head when she heard her brother's suggestion. "You think?" Derrick asked, suddenly hopeful. "That actually sounds like a really good idea. Compromise." Syd felt bad; she knew she should add in her two cents here and tell him that was not such a hot idea but another part of her, a very petty, selfish part that told her not to say anything and instead allow him to make this mistake, won out. She leaned back and smiled at the friends in front of her. She could not wait to see aftermath of this anniversary dinner.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has read and review, glad you're enjoying it! So sorry this chapters a little short but i'm setting up the next chapter which will be much longer and feature Derrick's date with Tabatha. And just on a side note, the drama will begin very quickly in this story so keep reading! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town  
**

_Chapter 4  
_

Derrick let out a heavy breath as he pulled up to Tabatha's apartment building Monday night. He was beyond tempted to just shoot her off a quick text, telling her he was here but he knew if he did that he would never hear the end of it. He honestly didn't even know how he'd allowed the relationship to last this long. A year and some odd number of months. He shook his head as he opened his door and extended one denim clad leg on the cement. When he'd first met his girlfriend, he thought she was fun and pretty and he wouldn't mind spending more time with her. But hours turned into days, days turned into weeks and weeks into where he was today. He realized he should have broken up with her months ago but it was a hard thing to do and he'd never grown the balls, figuring what harm would another month do? Now here he was standing in front of her apartment ready to take her out to celebrate their anniversary and he had no idea how or when he should end things.

He knocked a couple times and waited for her to open the door. "Hey!" Tabatha said cheerfully, acting as if they hadn't given each other the silent treatment last night because she had wanted to have dinner tonight instead of the night before. Derrick hadn't been too surprised when he woke up in the morning with a text from his girlfriend that said "sorry about yesterday, let's just pretend it didn't happen and go out to dinner tonight?". Coincidence that tonight was when she'd originally wanted to celebrate? Derrick didn't think so. "Happy anniversary!" She said as she lunged forward, pressing a kiss to his lips.

He smiled at her as he entered her apartment, watching her move around to gather all her things. "You look good," He commented as he always did. She certainly was a stylish one, one of the things that had attracted him to her in the first place. The longer they were together, the more he found himself wishing she wouldn't wear heels and dresses all the time and sometimes maybe switch it up with more casual clothes. Tonight she was wearing a fucsia one shoulder dress with black high heels. Like he said she looked good but he couldn't help but wonder what she looked like without being dress to the nines and a face full of makeup. Even though they'd been going out for over a year, he'd never, not even when they spent the night together, seen her not looking perfectly made up.

"Thank you," She said with a wide smile as she twirled to show off her dress. "You look good too," She said though he could tell she didn't really mean it as she took in his mostly laid back attire of nice jeans, a funny graphic tee and a navy blue blazer. She made a little face as she walked closer and opened his blazer to read his tee. It had a picture of a chick with "chick" written under it next to a picture of a magnet with "magnet" written under it. She frowned as she looked up at his face. "Really Derrick?"

He grinned. "What?" He asked innocently. She shook her head in annoyance and let go of his blazer, turning around to grab her purse. "What? Come on, it's funny!"

She simply turned to look at him, rolled her eyes and walked toward the door. "Whatever, let's go,"

"You can't seriously be mad at me for wearing this," He said as he followed her out of her apartment.

She shrugged in a way that said "I'm pretending it doesn't bother me even though you and I both know it does". "It's just I put all this effort into wearing something to please you, I only wish you'd do the same."

He rolled his eyes. "Tabs, I don't care what you wear, to be honest. You could be wearing sweats right now and I would be perfectly happy."

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "Please Derrick, you and I both know you wouldn't be happy about that." Except that he really wouldn't mind. It was sad that she thought otherwise.

"Whatever, I don't want to fight about this tonight of all nights." He said maturely as they approached his car.

"Fine, we won't." She said as she stood next to the backseat door to give him enough room to open the passenger side door. He complied and was silent as she took her seat, nodding her head when it was ok for him to close the door. He did and clenched his fists as he walked around the car to the driver's side. Tonight was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Derrick, please tell me this is a joke," Tabatha said when they walked into the restaurant Derrick had selected; though really it was more of a bar that also sold food than it was a restaurant.

"You said I could pick where we go," He said as he led her over to an empty table that had a perfect view of the TV.

"Yes but I thought you would pick somewhere nice…" She said as she looked around. "Not a bar,"

"Tabby, come on, it's not that bad and the food's good," He said as he passed her a menu.

She let out an annoyed breath as she opened the menu. "Derrick, I've asked you more than once to please not call me Tabby, it's so…juvenile."

He stared at her as she surveyed her menu and he wondered what he had ever seen in her. She'd been fun and laid back and sexy when they'd met. But lately she'd become uptight and very much all about appearances. "Tabatha," He corrected himself. "I'm sorry," They both went silent as they searched the menu for something to eat. The waiter came over a minute later and took their order. "Miss?" He asked Tabatha.

She glanced over the menu quickly to make sure she wasn't missing anything then she looked up at the waiter with a tight smile. "I'll have a glass of chardonnay and a plain garden salad- no dressing."

Derrick wrinkled his forehead at her order. Had she really not found anything on the menu that interested her? He wanted to try it all. "Sir?" The waiter asked.

"Yeah, um, I'll take whatever you've got on tap and the New York Steak." He ordered sending the guy an apologetic smile for his girlfriend's cold demeanor. He sent a look right back to Derrick, though his was a sympathetic one, before leaving to place their orders. Derrick looked down at his watch. 8:53. Still seven minutes until they turned Raw on. "So you're sure you just want a salad?" He asked in what he hoped was an amicable tone and not an annoyed one.

She shrugged. "Yeah, I'm on a diet,"

He resisted pulling his hair out and asking her what the big deal is where they went to eat when all she was getting was a salad! Instead he just nodded and changed the subject to the photo shoot she'd had the night before. Her whole face lit up and she launched into an incredibly boring account on how the shoot had gone. Before he knew it, the TV behind Tabatha's head caught his attention and as if his wish were granted, Raw was on. He tried to pretend that he was at least listening to what his girlfriend had to say but it was hard when his show was on right in his line of sight. He was doing a pretty remarkable job of feigning interest in what Tabatha was saying until John Morrison performed a pretty crazy, high risk move that resulted in a pretty brutal landing. "Shit," He mumbled under his breath.

"I know!" Tabatha erupted with a shake of her head. "I mean it wasn't my fault but the strap just ripped!"

Derrick wasn't even pretending to pay attention anymore and he grimaced when he saw John's opponent, The Miz, begin to brutally kick in John's side. "Come on," He said urgently.

Tabatha frowned. "Derrick?" No response but more faces from her boyfriend. "What are you…." She turned her head and saw what he was looking at. She shook her head in anger and turned her attention back to him. "Wow...you are unbelievable." She said.

"Huh?" Derrick asked wondering what all her commotion was about as his eyes briefly looking her way before turning back to the TV.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Derrick Bateman, you are a jerk." She said, noisily pushing her chair back. "Don't bother calling me any time soon," She said before marching out of the sports bar.

"Tabs?" He asked when he saw her angrily leave. "Ah come on, I'm sorry," He said, standing up to get her attention. It was no good. She was already gone. He looked from the TV to the door she'd just left. If he left now he could probably catch up with her. But then John Morrison stood up and went for the starship pain and his decision was made. "Yes!" He exclaimed as he sat back down on his chair, his attention fully on the match. The waiter came over not even a second later and put the drinks down with a skeptical glance, wondering if the man was going to stay after his girlfriend had just left. Derrick simply offered the man a smile and grabbed his beer. "Thanks, I think we're gonna cancel that salad and instead take an order of nachos."

* * *

Johnny and Sydney were relaxing on the couch watching one of their favorite movies, Zoolander, when there was a knock on the door. Johnny got up to answer the door and Syd leaned forward, grabbing the remote to pause the movie so her brother could see it all. A second later she heard a burst of laughter come from her brother and she moved to investigate. "Johnny, what's so funny?" She asked. Johnny hunched over as he grabbed his stomach that was in pain from his laughter. She looked to see who was at the door and grinned when she saw it was Derrick, who was looking mighty fine tonight. "Hey Derrick, what are you doing here?"

Derrick made a face and Johnny stood up to answer for his friend. He opened his mouth to speak but instead a chorus of laughter slipped out. "I'm sorry, it's just too funny."

"Oh yeah, it's real funny man," Derrick said pushing his friend aside to walk into the apartment.

Sydney furrowed her brow as she followed the man. "What? What happened?"

Derrick sat down heavily on the couch and let out a breath. "God, where do I begin? I pick Tabatha up for our date and she's all butthurt about my shirt."

Syd looked at his shirt as he gestured to it and smiled. "I like it,"

Derrick offered her a smile in thanks. "Then she's mad that I took her to a sports bar instead of a nice, fancy restaurant. I mean, as if that's even my thing! She knows that! Plus," He complained, just getting started. "she orders a salad cause she's on a 'diet'. Well if you're just getting a salad, who cares where you go?" Johnny walked out of the kitchen and handed his friend a beer, knowing he would need it. "Thanks man. Then, and this is the kicker, Raw comes on on the TV and she stomps out of the bar like a little four year old while calling me a jerk." He rolled his eyes out of annoyance and took a long swig from his bottle.

"Did you explain the whole compromise thing? You know she wanted to have dinner tonight, you wanted to watch Raw…" Johnny asked.

"She didn't give me the chance." Derrick said.

"So when did this all happen?" Sydney asked curiously.

He shrugged. "Like two hours ago,"

She wrinkled her brow. "Well what have you been doing since? Did you go after her?"

"I just left the bar…the show was on," He answered when he predicted her next question.

"And that, Syd, was why I was laughing." Johnny said with a wide smile.

Derrick turned to him. "You're the one that gave me the idea of watching the show at dinner. If anything this is your fault."

"Dude, any man knows that when a girl leaves, you go after her." Johnny countered.

"She told me not to!" Derrick defended.

"Um, can I add my two cents in here?" Sydney asked, getting to boys attention. Derrick nodded at her to go on. "You probably did the right thing by not going after her. If she was really as mad as it sounds, she's going to need time to cool off before she allows you to explain yourself." She paused. "Did you have a chance to give her your gift?" He shook his head. "Maybe in a few days, you can set that on her doorstep with a letter, explaining that you never had a chance to give it to her the other day and that you wanted her to have it. Explain to her that you're sorry and when she is ready to talk she should call you. She'll think that's sweet that you are giving her the time she asked for and she'll think you've matured by not constantly calling her."

Both Johnny and Derrick stared at her as they processed her thoughts. They looked at each other before breaking out in grins. "Sydney, you are a genius," Derrick said happily.

"That's my sister," Johnny bragged.

She shrugged. "I mean I'm not guaranteeing it will work for her but I know for me it would."

"Well, it's worth a shot," Derrick said.

The trio spent the rest of the night watching the movie and the boys shared a couple of beers. "Yeah, you probably shouldn't be driving home." Sydney said as she watched Derrick walk out of the bathroom.

"Yeah," Johnny concurred. "You can stay here," He said then remembered his place was pretty full. "Hmm, might be a little cramped in here. I'll give you a ride home."

"No," Sydney said putting her hand up. "You shouldn't be driving either." She turned her attention to Derrick. "I'll drive you home."

The thoughts Johnny had earlier about maybe his baby sister having a crush on Derrick came back in full force. "You sure?" Johnny asked, to which Syd nodded. "Alright, drive careful. I'll see you tomorrow morning man," He said embracing his friend in a man-hug.

* * *

"It's going to be a left up here." Derrick instructed from the passenger seat of Johnny's car. He was pretty buzzed at the moment and it was hard not to stare at Sydney's bare legs that were only a reach away.

"You live pretty close by, that's nice." She commented as she pulled into the parking lot, Derrick telling her where she could park. She saw him open the door and she took off her seat belt. "I'll walk you up."

Derrick closed his eyes as he waited for her to get out of the car. Could he handle having her alone in his apartment right now without touching her? He wasn't sure but he couldn't wait to find out.

She grabbed the blazer he must have forgotten he threw in the backseat before closing the door. She smiled at him and motioned for him to lead the way, which he did after throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Thanks for the ride little Curtis."

She smiled at the name. "No problem,"

"And thanks for letting me complain about my girlfriend." He said as he reached his door. He stuck his key in the lock as he gazed down at the beauty in front of him. "Sometimes I wonder why I bother."

"Aw, don't say that," She said as he pushed open the door.

She followed him inside and he closed the door. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm wasting my time." He said as he stepped closer to her. "It's hard not to think about who I might be passing by while I'm with her." She was pretty sure he was gazing into her eyes right now. "What if the perfect woman for me is standing right…here…in front...of me." Syd dropped her eyes to his hand when it landed on her hip. She gulped in nervousness. "I can't stop thinking of you." He confessed as his other hand connected with her neck. "Maybe you're the one for me," He whispered causing Sydney's eyes to grow a little wide.

"Derrick," She said softly, her hand reaching out to touch his chest when she felt him move closer. "Don't do something you'll regret."

His eyes dropped to her lips. "I think I'll regret this more if I don't do something." Another gulp as he lifted his eyes to hers. "You're beautiful," He said, something he couldn't remember ever saying to anyone in his life.

She lifted the side of her mouth up in delight. "You're not too hard to look at either."

He smiled. "Well, if the pretty lady doesn't have any complaints, I'm going to kiss you now." Again his gaze dropped to her lips.

This time she allowed hers gaze to drop to his. "No complaints here," She whispered just moments before his lips pressed against hers. She moaned at the contact, her arms automatically reaching up to wrap around his neck. He made a little groaning noise and moved his hands lower on her hips to cup her butt to support her as he lifted her up. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist as he carried them over to his couch. He sat down, Sydney on his lap as their kiss deepened and his hands expertly inched her shirt up to explore her back. She couldn't resist running her hands through his curly hair making him laugh a little into her mouth. "What?" She whispered against his lips. "I like your hair,"

He grinned and pressed another kiss to her lips. "I like your hair too," He said as he fingered a lock of her brunette hair between his fingers. Their lips attached again like magnets as they hungrily kissed each other. Derek's hands stealthily snuck back under her shirt as he caressed the skin at the small of her back. Sydney moaned at the touch as she moved her hands out of his hair and around to cup his face.

In an instant, whatever spell they had been under was broken when there was a loud ringing coming from nearby. Sydney's eyes widened as if they'd been caught before pushing herself off of Derek's body completely and sitting guiltily next to him on the couch. "Sorry," Derek said in a soft voice as he stuck his hand in his pocket. "That's my phone," He said obviously before answering the phone. "Hey…uh, yeah, we just got here," Sydney put her hand on her forehead when she realized he was talking to her brother. What the hell had she been thinking making out with Derrick like that? "Oh sure, yeah, I'll send her back with some…K see ya later," Derrick said before hanging up. He looked over and saw her guilty expression. "That was Johnny, he, uh, wants me to send you home with some eggs so he can make breakfast tomorrow morning."

"Oh, uh, ok," She said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. She watched as he stood up, walking into the kitchen. She shook her head and stood up, running a hand through her hair.

"Here you go," Derrick said as he came back with a little Tupperware with four eggs inside. Syd couldn't help but smile slightly; he didn't seem like the Tupperware type. "I don't want them to break on the drive back," He explained.

She nodded and accepted it. They stood there uncomfortably, neither knowing what to say. "Listen…" Sydney said, breaking the silence. "That was…" She said gesturing to the couch where their make out session had gone down. "That came totally out of nowhere and I think it be best if we just forget about it."

Derrick nodded and rubbed his hand over his head. "You're right, plus you're Johnny's little sister,"

She nodded. "Right and you have a girlfriend," Shit, Derrick mentally scolded himself. He'd never cheated on a girlfriend before and no matter how bad his relationship seemed to be right now, Tabatha didn't deserve for him to be kissing another girl.

"Right, so…we'll just pretend this never happened?" He questioned. Even though he felt like a complete tool for making out with someone who wasn't his girlfriend, he had to admit that he had never been a part of a kiss that intense and that insatiable. Hell, if Johnny hadn't called, he couldn't promise that Sydney wouldn't be half naked right now.

She smiled, though she didn't feel like it. "Right," She too had never experienced a kiss like that; she'd been almost positive that she heard fireworks going off. "Well, I better get back,"

Derrick nodded and walked her to the door. "Alright, drive safe," Once she was gone Derrick leaned his back against his door and let out a breath.

* * *

Sydney walked into Johnny's apartment very quietly, not sure if her brother was asleep yet. She put the eggs in the fridge before walking into the living room. "Hey," She said when she saw her brother sitting in the dark room with nothing more than the glow of the TV lighting the room. "I thought you might be asleep,"

"I was waiting for you," He said and then patted the spot on the couch next to him. "Come on, let's talk,"

She looked at him skeptically, not sure what he wanted to talk about. "Ok…" She said unsure as she flipped on the light and sat down next to him.

"Listen, I've just kind of noticed something and I'm going to ask you something. Tell me the truth, don't hold back," Johnny said.

She furrowed her brow. "J, you're scaring me."

He chuckled. "Do you have a crush on Derrick?" He asked.

"What?" She asked with a laugh, playing it off, not wanting to give away that she had just been making out with his friend.

"Come on, just tell me," He encouraged.

"Johnny, I admit he is a total babe but there's no crush," She confirmed though she did feel bad for lying to her brother like this.

"You sure? Cause I don't want you to get hurt. He's in a serious relationship and now's not the time for him to get mixed up in a love triangle," He said referring to his and Derrick's spot on NXT.

She smiled at her brothers concern. "Trust me, I'm fine,"

"Alright but if you need to talk about anything, you know you can talk to me right?" He questioned.

"Of course I do,"

"Ok, good," He said squeezing her shoulder. He stood up and stretched. "Well, I'm gonna head to bed. I got an early flight in the morning. You're going to be ok here by yourself?" He said still unsure how he felt leaving his sister here in a city she didn't know.

"Stop worrying about me," She whined. "I'll be fine."

He smiled. "Alright, alright. Night Syd," He said kissing the top of her head.

"Night J, love you,"

"Love you too sis," He said before disappearing into his room. Once his door closed Sydney reclined fully onto the couch and let out a sigh.

* * *

**A/N: Well, let me know what you thought! And as always, thanks for reading and reviewing! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town  
**

_Chapter 5  
_

Sydney groaned the next morning when she heard, what she could only assume was the blender shriek loudly. She squeezed her eyes shut before rubbing the sleep out of them and sitting up. She sat on the edge of the couch and opened her eyes, taking a few seconds to allow herself to adjust to the light. She stood up and walked the few short steps that took her to the kitchen. She let out a yawn as she saw her brother standing next to the counter, pouring the contents from the blender into a cup. "Really? Blending this early in the morning?" She asked, her words muffled due to her yawn.

Johnny turned in surprise, not realizing she was awake. "Shit, I woke you up? Sorry, I was trying to be quiet." He said apologetically.

She looked over at the clock and saw it was just after five in the morning; earlier than she'd thought. "What are you making?" She questioned as she walked further into the kitchen to look in his cup as if that would tell her what's in it.

"Morning smoothie, want some?" He asked as he took a sip of his drink.

She shook her head as she walked over to the fridge. "No thanks- too early." She grabbed the orange juice and closed the fridge door. "What time's your flight anyway?" She asked as she grabbed a glass from one of the high cabinets.

"Seven," He answered. "I'll be gone in like ten minutes, you should try to go back to sleep," He suggested as he washed out the blender.

She yawned again after pouring some juice in her glass. "It's no use. Once I'm up, I'm up." She said as she twister the cap back on the carton and stuck it back in the fridge.

Johnny nodded as he drank some more of his smoothie. "You sure you're ok staying here while I'm gone? Cause I could probably get you on my flight and you can come on the road with us."

She shook her head. "I'll be fine. Stop worrying,"

"I just don't like leaving you here alone while I'm gone. You don't know anyone here and you barely know your way around the city." He shook his head and chided himself. "I should have introduced you to more people,"

She rolled her eyes, used to her brother's protective nature. "J, seriously, I'll be fine. I'll probably barely even leave the apartment. Besides, the movers should be getting here any day now so I'll keep myself busy."

He let out a sigh, still obviously not liking this situation. "All right but if you need anything, just call me." She nodded, telling him that she would. "And don't even think about going out at night. I don't want you going to some bar and getting hit on by some guy and not having someone there if things go sour."

"What?" She asked surprised. "You are ridiculous! Even if I did decide to go out one night, give me a little credit, I don't need you to protect me,"

He pointed his finger at her. "I'm serious Syd. Don't stay out late." He warned. "Even though I know you can protect yourself, considering the whole situation with Garrett, it doesn't hurt to be a little cautious. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. "

She rolled her eyes and took a sip of her juice. "Please, don't get all sentimental on me,"

He laughed. "Sorry, but I'm already not liking you staying in a foreign city alone, the last thing I need is to get a phone call from the police or the hospital telling me your hurt. Mom would kill me."

She burst into laughter. "So that's what this is all about. It's not about me getting hurt; it's about getting into trouble with mom."

He gave her a look that asked her if she was crazy. "Uh, duh," She shook her head and punched his shoulder. He laughed.

Their exchange was interrupted when a loud ring sounded in the small kitchen. "Oh, that's probably Derrick," Johnny said reaching into his back pocket to grab his phone. Derrick. Just the mention of his name caused last night's events to rush back to Sydney. "Hey," Johnny answered. "You here?...All right, I'll be down in a sec," He said before handing up. "Derrick's here," He told his sister. "So is there anything you need before I go?" He questioned and she shook her head.

"Nope, I'm good. You need help taking your things down?" She asked as she followed him to the door. She was secretly dying at a chance to catch a glimpse of Derrick. She was also quite curious how they would interact after what happened last night. Would it be awkward? Would there be sexual tension? Or maybe he'd already forgotten about it.

Johnny shot his sister a look. "Please sis, you know what I do for a living right? I think I can handle my own luggage," He said as he held onto his suitcase and hefted his carry-on into his hand.

She smiled. "Alright, alright, I was just asking,"

He nodded as he turned to the door and stopped as he saw that he was holding his suitcase handle, his carry-on bag and his smoothie, which he was going to drink on the way over to the airport. He looked over at his sister and gestured over to the door. "A little help here?"

She couldn't help but laugh at his question. "Oh you need my help? But you're a wrestler," She put emphasis on his occupation. He looked at her, unamused. "Ok, ok," She said as she walked to the door and opened it. "There you go tough guy,"

"Thanks," He said as he walked through the door. "K, I'll be home tomorrow afternoonish. I'll call you later today,"

"Ok, have fun," She said as she watched him disappear.

* * *

Sydney lay around most of the morning switching between watching the news and infomercials. When she looked at the clock and saw over two hours had passed since her brother left, she decided it was a reasonable time for her to get up and start her day.

After taking a nice long bath, she dried her hair into their natural loose waves, put on a minimal amount of makeup and pulled on a comfortable outfit of a gray t-shirt and jeans. She knew she was going to have to make a trip to the grocery store today; Johnny had a lot of food but it was all healthy stuff, she needed an unhealthy snack once and a while. She made her way into the kitchen and grabbed a pad of paper to write down things she wanted to get and things her brother was almost out of.

Just as she walked around to grab her purse and her phone, she looked down at her phone and sat down. She wanted to put in a quick phone call to her mom to let her know she was settling in ok. She'd last called her mom when her flight had landed in Tampa a couple days ago and she had a feeling her mom was about a day away from calling her in a panic to see if everything was all right.

She quickly navigated around her phone before putting it up to her ear as she waited for her mom to pick up. "Hello?" Her mom greeted.

"Hey mom, it's me," Sydney said simply, finding a smile appearing on her face when she heard her mom's voice.

"Sydney? Oh, honey, I'm so glad you called!" She said happily. "I was getting worried sick about you,"

"Sorry, I've been meaning to call but things have been a little hectic around here." She said

Her mom mumbled something about finding time for her own mother. Syd gave a little silent chuckle, not expecting anything less. "So how have you been adjusting? Do you like Tampa?"

She nodded even though her mom couldn't see her. "Well, from the little I've seen so far, it's really nice. I actually think I'll really like it here."

"Oh that's great Syd, I'm so happy for you." Even though her mom hadn't wanted her to leave, she had encouraged Sydney to try someplace new, knowing her daughter needed to not only get away from Garrett but also needed to decided what was best for herself and a find someplace that suited her well. "And is Johnny's apartment all right?"

Syd gave a small laugh as she looked around. "It's definitely a one room apartment, that's for sure. But it's nice and actually kind of new. It's a little cramped but I don't mind the close quarters."

"And your brother? He's still all right with this arrangement?" Her mother asked concerned.

"As far as I can tell. I mean he can't really complain, I've been cooking dinner for him each night." She said and paused. "But oh mom, you should have seen this place when I first got here,"

"A mess?" Her mom questioned, knowing her son's cleaning habits, or lack thereof.

"A mess would have been welcomed! This place was a disaster."

She heard her mom 'tsk tsk', before speaking. "You set him straight right?"

Sydney laughed. "Of course I did, I wouldn't let him leave until we straightened the place up,"

"That's my girl," Her mom said with a laugh. "So have you been to one of his shows yet?"

She shook her head. "Not yet, I guess he didn't have any this weekend but he said he normally does so maybe this week I'll get over there."

"Oh honey, you'll have so much fun!" She said excitedly. "I went to a couple of his shows when I visited over summer and they were a blast!"

Syd smiled at how supportive her mom was. "I'll send pictures,"

"I would love that! So have you made any friends yet?"

She instantly thought of the one person she'd met. Derrick. She resisted letting out a dreamy sigh. "Well, I've only been met one of Johnny's friend, Derrick. He's on NXT with Johnny, the one with the curly hair," She described so her mom would know who she was talking about.

"Oh yes, he's cute!" Sydney laughed. "I think I remember meeting him when I visited; very nice boy."

"Yeah, actually, long story short, the cab I took from the airport didn't know where he was going so I ended up downtown and ran into Derrick and he brought me to Johnny's. He's really nice,"

"And cute," Her mom reminded her. She rolled her eyes, trust her mom to try to set her up with someone.

"Yes mom, I have eyes. But I'm not looking for anyone and he's got a girlfriend."

"Well dear, I just want to remind you that you are single now and it's ok to date. You're so young! Have fun," Her mom encouraged.

She smiled. "Well I definitely plan on having fun while I'm here, don't you worry." She paused. "Well I better get going, I have to go to the grocery store and get some good food in this place."

"All right honey, don't forget to call me later and walk me through how to watch NXT," She reminded her daughter. Every Tuesday night Sydney had to call her mom and walk her through the steps on how to get on WWE's website to watch NXT; she was technologically challenged.

"I won't forget, bye mom, love you,"

"Love you too Syd," Her mom said before they hung up.

* * *

**A/N: Alright guys, very sorry for the delay of this chapter. School's been a little hectic this week and I haven't had a chance to sit down and write. This chapter's a little slow, kinda just some family interaction but I hope you guys enjoyed it all the same. No Derrick in this chapter, so sad, i know, but next chapter's got him. Thanks for reading and reviewing, let me know what you think of this chapter. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town  
**

_Chapter 6  
_

"Hey J," Sydney said into the phone a few hours later after it rang and she checked her called id.

"Hey, thought I'd give you a call to let you know I got here safely," Johnny said on the other end as he and Derrick were relaxing in their hotel room before they had to get to the arena for the show.

"Aw that's sweet, you think I care about your safety," She joked as she cradled her phone between her ear and her shoulder so she could continue putting away the groceries she'd just bought.

"Ha ha," Johnny said, unamused. "So what are you doing?"

"Well, I am currently restocking your fridge." She said as she took a carton of milk out of the fridge and inspected the 'best by' date. "Honestly Johnny? Milk from September?" She asked in disgust as she instantly tossed it.

"Gee Syd, give me a little credit. I don't drink it, I just haven't thrown it out." He explained as if that made perfect sense.

"Well it's gone now you slob," She said as she put all the items she bought that needed to be refrigerated in the fridge.

"Hey, I take offense to that," He said defensively.

"What'd she say?" She heard Derrick ask in the background.

"She called me a slob," Johnny answered.

Derrick laughed which instantly brought a smile to Syd's lips. "Dude, you are,"

"What?" Johnny questioned. "I'm not a slob!"

"Anyway," Sydney interrupted their little side conversation. "I called mom today," She changed the subject.

"Oh yeah? What'd you talk about?" He asked, seemingly already forgetting about the slob comment.

She shrugged and closed the fridge door. "She just wanted to see how I'm adjusting here and if I'd made any new friends," She laughed as she remembered part of her conversation with her mom. "And I am pretty sure I distinctly remember her mentioning that Derrick is cute,"

Johnny groaned. "My own mother? I feel so betrayed!"

"What?" Derrick asked in the background. Johnny turned to his friend, unsure if he should share this information. "Come on! What?"

Johnny rolled his eyes. "I can't say it, Syd, you tell him," He said before outstretching his hand to his friend so he could grab the phone.

"Hello," Derrick greeted happily.

"Our mom thinks you're cute," She said with a smile.

Derrick looked at his friend and laughed. "I'd say I'm surprised but I've got a way with the ladies,"

Johnny groaned and rushed off to the bathroom. "I think I'm going to be sick,"

Derrick watched him go before sitting on the couch. An awkward silence filled the air. "So, uh, how are you?" Derrick asked, his voice lowered a little.

Sydney's head popped up in surprise. She'd almost expected them to just sit in the awkward quiet until Johnny came back from the bathroom. "Uh, I'm good...I'm good. How are you?"

Derrick nodded like a bobble head. "I'm good." Silence. He made a strange noise. "Hey, things shouldn't be awkward between us after…"

"That kiss?" She finished for him.

"Yeah, I mean Johnny's right nearby so I can't say much but I think we should clear the air when we get home tomorrow night,"

"Yeah…yeah, sure that's fine."

"Great," Derrick said, a smile making it's way back to his face. "So Johnny said you called him a slob…don't tell me you're cleaning again?"

She smiled. "Not cleaning really, just restocking his fridge."

"Well I certainly hope you've done more than cater to J-boy's needs today," He said, leaning back enjoying his conversation with Sydney.

She giggled. "Well, I spent a few hours watching the news and infomercials; very entertaining stuff. Then before stopping by the grocery store I went to the gym and got myself a gym membership."

"Well, aren't you the little party animal?" He joked and his grin only grew when he heard her soft laugh on the other end. "Are we going to have to bring a cleaning service with us when we get back tomorrow?" More laughter and then flirty words telling him that would not be necessary.

Johnny stood next to the bathroom listening to Derrick talk to Sydney as if they'd known each other for years. He ran a tired hand over his face. If he wasn't mistaken his best friend was flirting with his sister. And he had a girlfriend! He shook his head before walking over to his friend. "Alright jackass, stop hogging my sister," He said in a joking tone.

Derrick grinned. "Gotta go Syd, Johnny's in big brother mode,"

Johnny rolled his eyes and grabbed the phone from him. "All right sis, we should probably be getting to the arena soon. I'll give you a call when our flight leaves,"

"Sounds good, I'll talk to you later. Love you," She said before hanging up. She let out a sigh and stared down at her phone. God, why did she have to like the only guy she'd met here who also happened to be in a long-term relationship?

* * *

The movers had finally arrived about a half hour ago and had piled all her boxes in any available spot in the small apartment. She stood in the middle of the room, looking around at all her crap. Perhaps she should have asked her brother just how much available space he had in here. Maybe if she piled the boxes on top of each other then it wouldn't look so bad. She shook her head in frustration; she'd just have to play around with it.

She looked up in surprise when there was a knock on the door. She pulled open the door and smiled at the little old man standing on the other side. "Hi," She greeted amicably.

He looked at her in wonder. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize Johnny had a lady friend,"

She let out smirk when she understood that he thought she was Johnny's girlfriend. "Not quite," She said. "I'm actually Johnny's sister, Sydney. Do you know Johnny?"

"Oh, hi Sydney. Yes, yes, I live across the hall," He said hooking his thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the door. "Name's Jeff Gold," He introduced, offering her a hand to shake, which she did.

"Very nice to meet you,"

"Is Johnny home? He usually helps me bring my groceries upstairs," Jeff explained.

She cringed. "Actually he's not home; he's out of town for work."

He looked up at her. "It's Tuesday already?"

She nodded. "Afraid so." She paused as she saw him contemplate how he was going to carry his groceries up those atrocious stairs. "but I would be more than happy to help you,"

"Oh no, I couldn't ask that of you." He protested.

She smiled. "I insist, just let me go put on my shoes," She said and he nodded.

A minute later she following Jeff down the stairs that would take them into the parking lot. "So have you lived here long Jeff?"

"Here as in Tampa? Or this building?" He asked as he used his keys to pop his trunk open.

She gave a little laugh. "Both?"

He nodded and began handing her bags from his trunk. "Well I've lived in Tampa my whole life. Didn't even leave the state until I got married. You see, the misses and I had both never left Florida so we decided after we got married we would go anywhere and everywhere together." He handed her one last bag and then waved his hand in front of his face. "I'm getting off subject. Anyway I've lived in this apartment for almost thirteen years." He grabbed the last two bags himself before closing his trunk and locking his car.

"Wow, this building looks newer than that," She commented as she followed him back toward the building.

He nodded. "It was brand spanking new when we moved in."

"So you and your wife just can't stand the thought of going somewhere new huh?" She questioned as they slowly ascended the stairs.

"Well, it's just me now. My wife passed away a few years ago." He said though he didn't seem broken up about it.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," She said, feeling terrible.

"Don't be. She had cancer; we had been prepared for that moment for over two years when it happened. I've come to terms with it. Anyway, this place is home; I can't bring myself to live somewhere else." He explained. She nodded as she followed him inside his apartment. "So what are you doing here in Tampa? Visiting?"

She shrugged as she set down the bags on the table. "I guess you could call it a long visit." She turned around when she heard the sound of dog tags clicking together excitedly. "Oh you have a dog! He's so cute, what's his name?" She questioned as she crouched down and scratched the black lab behind the ears.

"Dex," Jeff answered as he began unpacking his groceries.

"Aw, so cute!" She said in a baby voice to the happy dog. "Anyway," She said, standing back up. "I've lived in Maine my whole life and I was ready for a change. I'm giving Tampa a shot to see if I want to move here permanently."

"You like it here so far?" He asked.

"So far. Though I have to say, I'm curious what it would be like to live in other places too. I've always dreamed of living in Boston or Chicago or even Dallas,"

He raised an eyebrow as he gestured for her to take a seat at the kitchen table while he began to put his groceries away. "That's quite a variety of cities,"

She laughed. "Well, I'm a curious girl and I've had a long time to think about it,"

He nodded. "Well, when the place feels right, you'll know."

"I sure hope so," she commented.

"I'm sure a pretty little thing like you has a boyfriend. How does he feel about you living here now?" Jeff asked curiously.

First she thought of her last boyfriend, Garrett. She honestly didn't even know if he was aware she had moved but she could only assume he was on to the next unfortunate girl and wouldn't even care. Then, for some reason, she thought of Derrick. Man that little, well ok big, kiss was really playing with her mind. "No boyfriend. But my mom's still back in Maine and she's pretty supportive."

"No boyfriend?" He asked in surprise. "Well, Tampa's filled with young people; I'm sure you'll find someone in no time."

"Yeah," She said though she really had no intention of boy hunting until she knew for sure she was going to move here. "Well, I think I'm gonna head back over to Johnny's unless you need something else; I've got a lot of unpacking to do."

He looked over and smiled. "I've got it from here, thank you for your help Sydney."

She smiled back. "No problem, just knock if you need anything," She said before leaving.

* * *

**A/N: Ahhhh! I am so sorry for the delay in an update. I usually like to update at least twice a week but things have just been so hectic lately I haven't had time to sit down and write. Hopefully the next update will be relatively soon. Anyways, thanks as always for your reading and reviews! I hope you guys like this chapter, as promised, a little bit of Derrick in here. Also, I've added just a little side character in Jeff, just to have a little fun. :) Hope you guys enjoy!**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town  
**

_Chapter 7  
_

Sydney took advantage of Johnny being out of town that Tuesday night and slept in his bed: a nice change from the soft, though small, couch. After waking up she got dressed and went across the hall to ask Jeff where there was a library in town; she was in desperate need of a new book. Jeff told her it was only a few short blocks away and when she saw Dex was in an excitable mood, she offered to take the dog with her on her walk, which Jeff seemed grateful for.

Sydney would have probably spent a couple hours in the library but she didn't want to leave the dog outside for too long. After checking out a couple of books that caught her attention, she asked the librarian to direct her to a park and a few minutes later she had Dex off his leash, running rampant in the relatively empty park.

Upon returning home she'd received a phone call from her brother, asking her if she would make him and Derrick dinner when they arrived home later that day. She'd immediately agreed, cooking being one of her hobbies.

Sydney stood over the stove at 5:30, stirring her semi-homemade pasta sauce. She turned around and grabbed a fresh regular sized spoon before turning back around and sticking her spoon in the sauce. She brought the sauce to her mouth and tasted it. She spread the sauce around on her taste buds as she looked at the now clean spoon thoughtfully. "Hmm…missing something," She mumbled to herself as she looked around for the missing ingredient. A few seconds later she stirred in a pinch more of salt before tasting again. "Oh yeah, that's good," She said with a grin, proud of her work. She turned off the heat to allow that to cool down and while she waited she grabbed plates and silverware, as well as napkins, and walked over to the small kitchen table that was situated in a nook type room off the side of the front door.

Once she finished setting the table, she went back into the kitchen and held her hand over the pot of pasta sauce. After determining it wasn't boiling hot anymore, she grabbed the pot and brought it with her to the counter across the small kitchen. She moved the casserole dish that was lined with large macaroni shells that she had cooked and then stuffed with a mixture of different creamy cheeses. She carefully poured the sauce over the stuffed shells and when she was done she put the dish into the oven to bake.

She'd barely closed the oven door before the apartment door burst open and Johnny and Derrick walked in. "Hey guys," She said, wiping her hands on a dish rag as she walked closer to them. "Perfect timing, just a little more than twenty minutes until dinner,"

"Hey Syd," Johnny said, hugging his sister to his side as he dropped his bag at his feet. He sniffed his nose as he smelt something familiarly delicious. "Is that…" He trailed off, not wanting to be wrong. "what I think it is?" She shrugged innocently and he walked over to the oven, opening it up a crack to see what was in it. He grinned widely. "Oh it is! I love you," He said as he kissed her cheek exaggeratedly. He turned to Derrick. "Her stuffed shells are her specialty, you're gonna love it." He said before grabbing his luggage and going into his room.

"Your specialty? You like cooking?" Derrick asked as he moved to sit on a bar stool, facing the kitchen.

She grabbed her bag of lettuce and poured it into a bowl to prepare a salad. "For some reason this is Johnny's favorite dish that I make," She said with an unknowing shrug. "And yeah I like cooking, it's fun."

"You any good?" Derrick asked as he mentally ran through the amount of times Tabatha had: a. cooked something for him (he could only count a handful of times) and b. cooked something that was good (never). He wouldn't want to go so far as to say the way to a man's heart was through his stomach, but he would admit he found women who could cook sexy.

She simply smiled at him. "You'll have to tell me," She turned around and quickly checked the oven to make sure neither her shells or her homemade garlic bread was burning.

He smiled back, accepting the challenge. "So, you know...about that, uh, thing that happened between us..." He started as he looked over his shoulder to see if Johnny was still in his room.

She waved him off, not wanting to talk about it. "Hey, let's just forget anything even happened," She said, though she wasn't too sure if she could really do that.

His shoulders drooped in relief. "That'd be great." He said with a smile that melted her heart. "So what'd you do while Johnny was away? Keep yourself busy?"

She gave a little shrug. "I tried. I called my mom to check in with her and then I went to the grocery store and got some good food in this place. Oh! Then I met Jeff, across the hall," She said hooking her thumb over her shoulder to motion to what direction his apartment was. "Have you met him?"

Derrick nodded. "Yeah, he's a cool guy. He's got some funny stories too if you talk to him for a while,"

She nodded. "Yeah, I really like him and his dog is absolutely adorable; I had to take him for a walk this morning."

Derrick raised an eyebrow. "Who? Jeff or Dex?" She leveled him with a stare and he laughed. "Alright, alright, I was kidding," He said holding his hands up in defense. "Please tell me that's not all you did; you had to have done something fun,"

She shrugged again. "I went to the library. Oh and my boxes finally arrived," She said gesturing to the big pile of boxes over by the TV. "I've gone through them a little and organized them but there is no way I can keep them all here. I didn't know just how small this place exactly was when I chose what to move here and it's not all gonna fit."

He looked over to where her boxes were. "Well, I've got a spare room in my apartment if you want to store some stuff in it. It's not that big but it'll hold your stuff and what I've already got in there."

"Really?" She asked surprised. "You wouldn't mind?"

He scrunched up his forehead and smiled. "No way,"

"Well thank you, I'll keep that in mind," She said as she turned to the sink and began doing dishes. Johnny came back into the room and he and Derrick sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. Sydney walked over to the boys a few minutes later with two beers in hand and she handed one of the each of them.

"So how was the show?" She asked curiously.

"Good," Johnny said simply.

"No, it was good for you. It was great for me," Derrick said with a smirk as he remembered he won both the rookie challenges this week guaranteeing him immunity next week.

"Oh shut up," Johnny said good-naturedly. "You obviously cheated."

"What?" Derrick shot defensively. "I won fair and square you bitter betty." Syd laughed at their interaction.

"Syd, you saw the show. Did he cheat?" Johnny asked, turning to his sister for assistance.

She grimaced. "You know, I really didn't notice any foul play."

Derrick gave her a high five. "Thanks for the support Little Curtis," He said shooting a triumphant look at Johnny.

Johnny just shook his head. "Whatever, you're lucky you got immunity cause otherwise you would be going home next week."

Derrick scoffed. "Please, I've got this competition in the bag. America loves me."

Sydney rolled her eyes and left the boys to their ego contest and went to check on the food. A few minutes later she called guys in and they sat around the table scooping mounds of salad, garlic bread and stuffed shells onto their plates.

"This looks great Sydney," Derrick said as he eyed his full plate.

"Thanks," She said as she took a bite of her food.

Johnny let out an exaggerated moan as he tasted his favorite dish. "Sis, you've done it again. I knew there was a reason I agreed to let you live with me." She just laughed.

"Seriously, this is really good," Derrick added, his mouth half full. She just smiled in thanks as she continued eating.

"So mom called me earlier," Johnny said in a serious tone.

She looked up at him. "Did she?"

Johnny looked down at his food before looking back at his sister. "Yeah, told me that Garrett stopped by last night looking for you."

Her eyes widened slightly at the mention of her ex-boyfriend. She glanced over at Derrick, who was pretending not to listen, before looking back at her brother, sending him a look that him she didn't want to talk about this in front of his friend. "Is that so?" Her tone was strained.

He ignored her obvious discomfort. "That is so."

"Well, great story." She said with finality, hoping her brother would drop it.

"He was drunk and demanding mom tell him where you went."

She closed her eyes at the visual. Why was he telling her this? The last thing she wanted was her violent ex-boyfriend harassing her mom. "Johnny…please, we can talk about this later."

He ignored her again. "He said you had unfinished business."

God, she felt like pulling her hair out! "Johnny, I'd really rather not talk about this right now," She persisted as her eyes darted from her brother to his friend.

Johnny pursed his lips, as if unsure if he should continue. He opened his mouth to go on.

"Hey, man," Derrick broke in. "She doesn't want to talk about it, she cooked us this dinner, let's just enjoy it." He hadn't wanted to get involved in their sibling discussion but he felt so bad seeing the anguish on her face. Obviously she was uncomfortable talking about this Garrett guy, especially in front of him.

Johnny took a deep breath, his gaze locked on his sisters pleading face and he nodded. Even though he felt like a dick pushing her with the Garrett stuff, she always avoided it and there were some things they needed to discuss.

"So Derrick, you grew up in Cleveland?" Syd asked, pasting a smile on her face as she abruptly changed the subject.

He nodded. "Born and bred,"

"That's cool, I have to admit, I've never been to Ohio." She commented as she looked at her brother out of the corner of her eye to gauge his attitude. He was obviously worried about her and she knew he wouldn't drop the subject of Garrett completely, just for now.

"Well, you my dear, are missing out. Big time," Derrick said with a grin.

"Please," Johnny added in with a smile, showing his sister he was fine. "Name one thing she is missing out on in Cleveland." Johnny challenged his friend. Derrick scoffed but he didn't address his question. "That's what I thought." He said before turning his attention to his sister. "So we've got a show tomorrow night at FCW. You wanna come?"

She grinned instantly. "Absolutely."

"Alright good. After, we'll go out and introduce you to some of the guys," He said, shoveling food into his mouth.

"Sounds good," She said.

* * *

After dinner the trio sat down in front of the TV and entertained themselves for a couple hours before Derrick finally announced he was going to head home. Sydney walked into the kitchen and returned with a medium sized Tupperware filled with the contents of their dinner.

"Leftovers," She announced as she handed the container to him.

Derrick looked at it and then at her and smiled. "You are an angel,"

Syd laughed as Johnny piped up. "Please tell me there is more," Johnny asked. "I was planning on eating those leftovers tomorrow."

"Oh don't worry you," She said, waving him off. "We have plenty more." Johnny dramatically wiped the imaginary sweat off his forehead. Syd turned back to Derrick. "Hey, so think we can move my stuff to your place tomorrow?"

"What?" Johnny asked, curious what she was talking about.

"Oh I offered to let Syd keep some of her things in my extra room." Derrick explained but Johnny still looked confused so she pointed over to where her boxes were piled up.

"When did those get here?" He asked, genuinely confused.

She laughed. "Yesterday. You didn't notice them when you walked in?" She asked in surprise; she would have noticed them instantly, they were a huge eyesore.

Johnny just shook his head. Derrick turned to her and nodded to answer her question. "Yeah I can help you bring the stuff over if you want."

"Alright, if you don't mind." She said.

"Don't mind at all, I'll see you guys tomorrow," Derrick said as he waved and left.

Once he was gone, Sydney went back into the kitchen to finish cleaning the dishes she'd used for dinner. "Syd," Johnny said as he followed her into the kitchen. "I think we need to talk."

She let out a sigh, knowing what he was talking about and wishing she could avoid it. "Johnny…can we do this later?"

"Nope," He said simply and gestured for her to follow him. They sat on the couch and faced each other, neither speaking for a minute.

"Okay then, I'll start," Syd started. "First of all, I do not appreciate you bringing Garrett up in front of Derrick." She said shooting him a stern glare.

Johnny let out a sigh and ran a hand over his head. "You're right, I'm sorry but I didn't want you to do the whole 'Johnny, not now' thing that you always do." He leveled her with his own unyielding stare. "You've been avoiding this conversation for a very long time and it ends now."

"It's just hard; I don't like talking about it. It's over now and I'd rather it be out of sight, out of mind." She explained.

"Syd, you have to talk about it to get over it." He encouraged. He saw the contemplation in her eyes and he reached over and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Just start from the beginning."

She stared at him for a while before nodding slowly. She looked down at her hand clasped in his and began. "Everything was fine in the beginning. I mean he was perfect, basically everything I looked for in a boyfriend. He was good-looking, funny, smart and a really, really nice guy."

Johnny nodded knowingly. "That's why I set you two up, I thought he would treat you right."

She offered him a sad smile, knowing he felt guilty for getting her involved with the guy that turned out to be not so great. "Well, he did. But one day…I don't know, he just snapped. I mentioned something about coming down to see you but he said he couldn't get time off work and that I couldn't go." Her eyes were focused on a random spot on the floor as she vividly remembered the night her loving boyfriend turned violent. "I remember laughing. I laughed and told him he was being ridiculous, that I was going to see my brother." She glanced up at Johnny. "He slapped me." Johnny's face tightened angrily. "He told me he wouldn't allow me to go to Florida without him and that if you wanted to see me, you could come up to Maine." She rubbed a hand over her face, exhausted at just remembering the volatile relationship. "Well, anyways, as you can guess the abuse continued and he tried his hardest to control my every move. The day that I told you about what he had been doing was the day I left him. I had been trying to work up enough courage to leave for months but…it was hard, it was scary not knowing what would happen after. Anyways, that day I had just got home from the store and the minute I walked in the door, he was breathing down my neck, asking me where I had been, accusing me of cheating on him. I, of course, wasn't and I told him so but he was drunk and not listening. He hit me a couple times and then my phone rang." Her eyes connected with her brothers. "It was you. And he answered." Johnny nodded as he remembered. "And he was talking to you amicably, in his normal, nice-guy voice as if nothing was wrong, as if he hadn't been a few short minutes away from knocking me out."

Johnny squeezed her hand, both to urge her to go on and to release some tension he was feeling from hearing all this. For some odd reason he remembered that day he'd called his sister and Garrett had answered. He hadn't thought anything of it thought. "Johnny, my man! How the hell are you? Sydney told me you might be moving up to the big league soon, that's great man!" Johnny clenched his teeth. At the moment he just wanted to hop a plane home and beat the shit out of this asshole he had once called a friend.

"You guys talked for a while," Syd continued. "and after he hung up he went right back to hitting me. After he was done, he left to go out with his friends and I was just lying on the ground in pain, wondering what the hell I was doing. I think that day was a wake-up call for me. I realized how easily he could turn it on and off and I knew I had to leave. It hurt that he could slap me around one second and then talk to you like you two were the best of friends the next. I didn't like it. I didn't like that I was letting him fool everyone and think he was this great guy. So I packed my things, got in my car and called you. I told you the basics of what's been happening and then I went over to moms and filled her in." It was pretty crazy how many emotions were running through her at the moment, reliving all this. She would say she was surprised that she wasn't bawling her eyes out by now but she knew she was all cried out.

"And did he come looking for you?" Johnny asked concerned.

"He didn't. At first I was a little surprised but after a while it was like, why are you complaining? He never came to find me and for that I am thankful." She said.

"But why did he come to mom's yesterday then?" Johnny asked.

She shrugged. "The only thing I can think of is after I left, he probably found someone else to occupy his time, she probably left and now he's ready to come find me." She shrugged again, really stumped. "I don't know but I wish mom would have told me. I feel terrible about that. The last thing I want is him harassing her."

"She didn't want to worry you. The good news is mom was having practically the entire local police station over for dinner so they took care of him when he showed up." They gave a small laugh to ease the tension. "Listen, I know this was hard for you, but I really appreciate you telling me, I really needed to know." She looked up at her brother's serious face and smiled.

"I love you J," She said as she wrapped her arms around him.

He embraced her back and squeezed the life out of her. "I love you too sis, so much. And I promise I will never let that asshole or any other asshole hurt you ever again." And that broke the dam. The tears flowed from Sydney as she sobbed into her brother's chest. Her tears weren't of sadness but instead gratefulness. It was nice having someone there to protect and look after her.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! So glad you guys are liking this story and Derrick and Sydney. And let me just say- all Derrick and Sydney all next chapter! :) Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you thought.**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town  
**

_Chapter 8  
_

"Hey," Sydney said the next afternoon as she opened up the apartment door to let Derrick inside. "You just missed Johnny, he had a checkup at the doctor's," She exclaimed as she gestured for him to come inside.

"Oh no problem, we can handle this without him," He said as he walked over to where her boxes were stacked. She took the time to take in his appearance. He was wearing black gym shorts and a heather gray tank; he looked like he belonged in the gym and she didn't think she'd ever been more attracted to him. She took a couple deep breaths to remind herself he was taken before she followed him and began to pick up a box to take down to his car to transport to his place. "So is this all going?" He asked as he looked over the pile.

She nodded. "Yeah, all the stuff I'm keeping here is over there," She said pointing to the other side of the room where a couple boxes were placed.

"Alright, let's get this stuff in my car then," He said as he easily hefted a full box into his arms. She had to test each box before lifting a box that was not too heavy. They walked downstairs and out into the parking lot, over to Derrick's car.

"Hey, thanks again for doing all this," She said as she pushed the box into his trunk.

"You know, after only knowing you for less the a week, I already know you thank people way too much." He said with a grin.

She smiled. "Well, I'm sure there are things you'd rather be doing than helping me,"

He raised a brow. "You're sure about that?"

She furrowed her brow. "Well, I mean…yeah?"

He laughed. "Actually, I don't have anything better to do and even if I did I wouldn't mind helping you. Remember, I'm the most helpful guy in all of Tampa," He reminded her of the first time they met.

She giggled as they began to walk back up to the apartment for round two. "How could I forget?" She paused and changed the subject. "So how are things going with Tabatha?"

He let out a long sigh. "Things are paused. I followed your advice and I went over to her place this morning and put the anniversary gift I got her and a bouquet of roses with a note that basically said I was sorry about what happened and I understood why she was angry but I wanted her to have this gift I got her and when she was ready to talk, so was I." Another exhausted sigh. "So we'll see how things go," He said as they reached the steps where he gestured for her to go first. He found it more than a little difficult to not stare at her butt in her short white shorts that hugged her butt perfectly.

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if she called you within the next couple of days. A girl can't just ignore that kind of gesture," She said honestly. She reached behind her to straighten the hem of her yellow v-neck and then smoothed her hands over her butt which distracted Derrick so much that he didn't even have time to remind her of that tricky last stair until it was too late. She'd already tripped but luckily his reflexes were on point and he reached out to hold onto her waist before she could fall on her face.

"Whoa there," He said as he pulled her back against his chest to keep her steady. "You alright?"

Her cheeks flamed in embarrassment from almost face planting it in front of Derrick. Then she felt his hard chest against her back and wished he'd never let go. "Yeah, just tripped," Much to her disappointment, Derrick slowly released her and she carefully climbed the last step.

"I thought for sure your brother would warn you about that last step," Jeff said suddenly from his doorway.

Sydney smiled at him and Derrick laughed behind her as they walked closer to him. "I don't know about Johnny, but I certainly did warn her, Jeff." Derrick said as he extended his hand to shake the older man's hand.

"How are you doing Derrick?" Jeff asked with a smile.

"I'm doing great, and yourself?" Derrick asked back as he nonchalantly hooked an arm around Sydney's shoulders. Nonchalantly to him, but Syd practically swooned from the simple gesture.

"I'm good. And how's that show of yours?" Jeff asked.

Derrick grinned. "Something tells me you haven't been watching and voting for me,"

"I'm an old man, I don't own a computer and I distinctly remember you telling me the show was only online,"

"That is true. So have your nieces and nephews been voting for me?" Derrick asked.

"Sorry, Johnny enlisted all my family members first; they've been religiously voting for him,"

"Damn," Derrick said, though he was wearing a smirk. "Well, I guess I have to earn my votes the old fashioned way. Nice seeing you Jeff," He said before going back into Johnny's apartment.

"You're not leaving already are you?" Jeff asked Sydney.

"What?"

"You're moving boxes. You leaving already?" He asked again.

She smiled at the hint of disappointment she heard in his voice. "Oh no, I had some things shipped here from home before I realized how small Johnny's apartment is. It won't all fit so Derrick's offered to let me store some stuff at his place."

He nodded. "That's good; Dex really liked that walk you took him on the other day, he'd be real disappointed if you didn't come back."

She laughed. "Well, tell him not to worry, I just may be back later today to talk him on another one."

Jeff smiled. "I'll be sure to let him know,"

"Alright, well I'll see you later," She said with a wave before walking back into her apartment to grab another box.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later Derrick and Sydney had carried the last of her boxes up to the empty room in his apartment. She set the last box on top of another as she looked around the nearly empty room. He had a couple boxes in there himself, along with some clothes scattered around and an ironing board. "I had a roommate but he moved out last month," Derrick explained the question she'd been wondering.

"Was he at FCW too?" She asked as she followed him out of the room to sit on the couch in the living room.

He nodded. "He got dropped from his contract though so he went home. Haven't been able to find a roommate,"

"Well that must be kind of nice, being on your own," She said.

"Definitely but it sucks to pay double the rent." He said and she nodded, that would definitely suck. They were silent for a few minutes, Sydney was looking around the room, noting how much cleaner it was compared to Johnny's and Derrick was watching her. "Can I ask you something?"

She turned to him with a smile and nodded. "Sure,"

"Last night…when Johnny was asking you about that Garrett guy…I'm kind of curious about him." He said, not wanting to pry.

She let out a sigh and ran a hand over her forehead. "Garrett is my ex-boyfriend,"

"Things didn't end well?" Derrick asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Let's just say it wasn't a healthy relationship. I haven't seen him or heard from him since I left him and so that's why I didn't want to talk about him last night. Now that we are no longer together, I would prefer to not talk about him."

He nodded. "I understand. I just kind of got the feeling that you were uncomfortable with me hearing about it." He said honestly.

She instinctively reached a hand out to touch his chest. She ignored the shivers when she felt his muscles jump at the contact. "Oh no Derrick, it wasn't you. I mean I didn't want you to have to get involved in it but I just don't like talking about him and Johnny knows that so I was upset that he would bring it up when we were having a nice dinner."

Derrick nodded but almost forgot how to speak at the feel of her touching him. He wished his shirt would magically disappear so he could feel her skin on his. "I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable around me," He said, his eyes impulsively dropping to her lips.

She gulped. "Trust me, I'm not uncomfortable around you. In fact, I'm probably too comfortable,"

It was his turn to gulp as he saw her gaze drop to his lips. "Me too,"

She felt her breath hitch and her eyes closed. She was trying to compose herself to take her hand off him and move away but before she knew it, his lips were on hers. A breathy moan left her lips as she opened her mouth to allow his tongue to tangle with hers. She would her arm around his shoulder so her hand could slide in his hair. Derrick's hands found their way to her hips where he gently lifted her up and moved her to sit in his lap. His hands slid down to her legs and he groaned at the feel of her bare skin under his hands.

Much to Sydney's disappointment, Derrick broke the kiss but she was pleasantly surprised moments later when his lips slid down to her neck. She bit her lip at the feeling and couldn't help to groan that escaped her lips when one of his hands found its way to her butt where he gave it a squeeze and pushed her closer to him. She pulled his head away from her neck and looked into his eyes. She saw the desire shining and she knew hers looked the same way. In a second her lips were back on his where the kiss grew hungrier and more intense. Derrick's hands expertly worked their way up her torso, in effect lifting her shirt higher and higher until their kiss was broken momentarily so he could slide the shirt off and throw it to the ground before bringing her lips back to his.

Ring ring. Ring ring.

Their kiss broke slowly as Derrick's home phone continued to ring shrilly. They were both content to wait until the ringing stopped before continuing again where they'd left off.

That was until they heard the voice that was leaving a message.

"Hey Derrick…it's me." Tabatha's voice echoed through the room. Sydney immediately lifted herself off Derrick and gulped guiltily as if the woman could see the pair. Derrick's eyes connected with hers and though she saw a hint of regret she could also still clearly see that the desire he had moments ago was still there.

"Listen, uh, I got your gift….thank you, the flowers are beautiful and the bracelet is…well it's perfect." Long pause. "Anyway, I, uh…well I was thinking that I could…that maybe we could talk." Another long pause and then a sigh. "I'll be home all day so if you want to come over so we could talk, that would be great…well I'll, uh, hopefully see you soon. Bye," She clicked off.

The two sat there in silence for a couple minutes, their heavy breathing being the only sound in the room. The sexual tension was incredible yet awkward as they had just been interrupted by Derricks girlfriend.

His girlfriend Sydney, she mentally chided herself. "Well, I, uh, better get going." She said as she stood up abruptly. She looked down and was surprised to see her shirt was still off. She'd forgotten it had been tossed aside just moments before Tabatha had called. Her eyes frantically darted around the room as she looked for her shirt. She finally located it and hastily pulled it on.

"Sydney…" Derrick said, now hunched over, his elbows resting on his knees.

"Thanks, uh, thanks again for letting me store my stuff here," She thanked again as she started toward the door.

He was going to suggest they talk about what just happen but hell, even he was at a loss for words at what to say. That, plus he was still in an aroused state that he didn't know if he was even capable of talking without making another move on her. "Let me just grab my keys and I'll give you a lift home," He said, standing up.

"No!" She exclaimed as she turned to face him, her hands extended out in front of her. She realized how crazy she sounded and lowered her arms. "I mean, no, that's not necessary; I am in the mood to walk anyway."

He lifted a concerned eyebrow. "You sure? I really don't mind."

She gave him an obviously tight smile. "I'm fine. See you later," She said before she practically ran for the door.

Derrick put his head in his hands as he watched her leave. What the hell was he doing?

* * *

**A/N: I am so incredibly sorry it has taken me so long to update, I feel terrible! I've recently discovered the greatness that is and that's been where I have been spending most of my free time, but I will not let myself get carried away again lol I will continue to update at least once a week. And also, I WILL update again this weekend because your reviews we so great and you all have been very patient with me. :) As always, thanks for reading and reviewing, let me know what you thought of this chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town  
**

_Chapter 9  
_

After a long walk back to Johnny's apartment that left Sydney even more confused, she realized she needed more time to process all this. So she stopped by Jeff's apartment and took Dex out for a walk and fifteen minutes later they found themselves at an out of the way park that was nearly deserted. Syd let Dex off his leash and threw a tennis ball she'd found on the grass before she sat down.

She watched as the dog chased eagerly after the ball. She wished her life could be as carefree as the dog's was. She ran a frustrated hand over her face. What the hell had she been thinking? She let herself get away with the first kiss she had shared with Derrick, claiming they were caught up in the moment and he was drunk. But this time…this time she had no excuses. She couldn't write it off as curiosity of what it would be like. Nope. This time she would have to take responsibility for her actions. She had kissed the man and he had a girlfriend. How messed up was she?

Dex came sprinting back over to her and dropped the ball in her lap. She picked it up and chucked it back over the grass causing the dog to shoot off after it again.

Derrick did initiate the kiss, she argued with herself. But she didn't have to respond and kiss him back. She had been perfectly capable of pushing him away but she hadn't. No, she was just as guilty as he was in this matter.

She let out a groan and laid back, her hands coming over her face in frustration. Even though she knew it wasn't any of Johnny's business and she didn't plan on telling him about what had happened between her and Derrick, she wanted to. She didn't have anyone to talk to about her feelings and she usually went to her brother.

A few seconds later Dex ran over to her, dropping the ball down next to her before he climbed on top of Sydney and began layering her face with slobbery dog kisses. She couldn't help but laugh as she held the dog's head as he continued to enthusiastically flower her with appreciation and love. This was exactly what she needed right now: a distraction.

She didn't want to think about how awkward things were going to be between her and Derrick the next time they saw each other. She didn't want to think about having "the talk" again about how they made a mistake and it wouldn't- no- couldn't happen again. She didn't want to think about how hard it was going to be for her to not kiss him or how hard it was going to be to NOT think about kissing him again. She just didn't want to have to think about it anymore. Things would have been so much easier if her last relationship hadn't been so awful, or if Derrick was single. Things would have just been so much easier.

* * *

Derrick let out a sigh as he parked his car in front of Tabatha's apartment complex a couple hours later. He hadn't planned on showing up here so soon after he'd received her phone call but he couldn't sit in his apartment for another minute while staring at the walls in total silence. He'd been trying to dissect what was going on between him and Sydney and it was driving him crazy.

Damn, everything was so confusing. He'd been sure the first kiss had just been him being stupid and drunk. But they had both been perfectly sober a couple hours ago. And it had been amazing. He couldn't deny that he wanted to kiss those lips again.

Even though it hadn't been his fault, he'd felt like a dick when Tabatha's phone call had interrupted their kiss. The look on Syd's face had made him feel two things: one, guilty for his girlfriend calling while they'd been making out and two, regret that the call had ended what could have escalated into so much more.

God damn, he cursed himself as he hit the heel of his palm against the steering wheel. What the hell was he thinking? He had a damn girlfriend!

He shook all thoughts of Sydney from his head as he got out of his car and made his way upstairs where he would hopefully make up with his girlfriend.

Once he finally approached her door, he raised his hand and knocked twice, a few locks of his curls falling over his eyes in the process. He reached a hand up and moved them out of the way as the door slowly opened. He gave Tabatha a small smile as she appeared in front of him wearing dark blue skinny jeans and a cream racer back tank. Of course she looked perfect as always, he noted, even during their fight.

"Hi," She said, almost shyly. "Come on in," She said as she opened the door wider. After he entered and she closed the door behind him, she led him over to the couch where they sat own next to each other. "I love the flowers you got me," She said, gesturing to the vase filled with daisies on her coffee table.

"Glad you like them," He replied. "Listen, I don't want to beat around the bush on this. I'm glad you called." He said as he grabbed her hands to hold in his. "I'm really sorry about the other night, I didn't mean to upset you," He said honestly.

"Derrick, I just don't understand why you would take me to a sports bar in the first place and then, when I'm obviously upset, watch your wrestling more than listen to me," She complained.

He blinked at her. He knew he should sugarcoat his answer so she didn't get mad at him but he was an honest guy. Well, mostly honest, he definitely wasn't going to tell her about what had happened with Sydney. "When we were arguing about what day to celebrate, I told you I would rather have it on Sunday because Raw is on Monday nights. But when we decided on Monday," He said, but what he really wanted to say was 'but you got your way again' but he knew that wouldn't go over well. "I figured it wouldn't hurt to go somewhere that aired the show so I could be with you and watch the show." He answered honestly.

She pursed her lips, obviously not liking his answer. "It would have been nice if you could have just given me that one night without wrestling interfering."

He narrowed his eyes a little bit. "Babe, wrestling is my job…it's my life."

She tilted her head. "But do you have to bring your job to our anniversary dinner?"

He gave a little sarcastic laugh and rubbed his hand over his mouth. "I'm sorry but were you or were you not telling me about your job that night?" She didn't say anything. "Cause I specifically remember you telling me about your recent photo shoot." Again nothing. "So it's ok for you to bring your job on our date but I can't?"

She let out a sigh after a minute of silence. "Well, obviously those two situations are very different and you don't seem to get what I'm saying." Derrick opened his mouth to speak but she reached forward to touch his knee. "But can we just talk about it later? I don't want to fight anymore," She said as she pouted.

Derrick new a fake pout when he saw one but he didn't want to fight either and he nodded. "I missed you," He said as he leaned closer.

She smiled and also leaned forward. "I missed you too," She said before closing the short distance and pressing her lips to his. "And I love my anniversary gift," She said, grinning as she pulled away.

He smiled back. "I'm glad,"

"Hold on, I'll be right back," She said as she got up and disappeared into her room. She came back a second later carrying a rectangular box wrapped in green floral wrapping paper. "I didn't have a chance to give this to you on Monday," She said as she set the gift on his lap.

He looked at it for a second. "Flowers?" He questioned as he pointed to the wrapping paper.

She beamed. "Isn't it pretty?" He resisted rolling his eyes. She would get a wrapping paper that she liked and not bother to consider what he liked. "Unwrap it slowly so I can reuse the paper."

This time he did roll his eyes though he doubted she noticed. He carefully unwrapped the gift and handed the paper over to her where she folded it cautiously. He pulled the lid off the box and peered inside. He raised an eyebrow as he pulled out a navy blue polo shirt. He blinked as he held it out in front of him. He was not a polo shirt kind of guy. Not in a million years.

"Don't you just love it?" Tabatha asked excitedly. "Now you can wear this when we go out instead of those goofy shirts you always wear."

He frowned as he looked at her. "I love my goofy shirts."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh I know but this is a nice shirt," She commented.

He nodded and looked down and saw that there was more sitting in the box. He set his new shirt aside and picked up the next item. A gift certificate to a hair salon.

"So you can get that much-needed haircut," She said as she touched his curly locks. He instantly flashed back to his first kiss with Sydney, when she'd been running her hands through his hair. "I like you hair," He remembered her saying affectionately.

Why did it seem like both of these gifts were insults? Your clothing sucks so here's a polo. Your hair is too long so here's a haircut. Whatever happened to getting someone something they actually wanted instead of getting them stuff you want them to have?

"Thanks babe," He said mostly because he didn't want to argue. "I love these,"

She beamed. "I knew you would!" She threw her arms around him and pulled her lips to his.

"I've got to leave for a show in a couple hours, but what do you say we make some popcorn and watch a movie in bed?" He suggested, ready to just spend quality time with his girlfriend.

"Sounds perfect,"

* * *

**A/N: As promised, here's a new chapter, hope you all enjoy. Thanks for reading and especially reviewing last chapter, they were great. I'll have another update this week, probably towards the end of the week. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town  
**

_Chapter 10_

"Hey, this is pretty cool," Sydney commented as she followed Johnny into the FCW Arena. Compared to the arena's she'd watched Johnny perform in on NXT, this place was pretty small. But she liked it; it was more intimate and she imagined the talent was able to interact with the fans more often and more easily. "I don't know what I was expecting, maybe a ring outside with one row of bleachers," She offered as she noted the many bleacher sets as well as folding chairs.

He made a face. "Sis, this is FCW, a big step up from the backyard wrestling I used to do,"

She gave a little chuckle and shrugged. "Well, sadly that was probably the last time I saw you wrestle live. I just don't like to watch-" She was cut off as Johnny finished her sentence in a high pitched tone, obviously mocking her.

"my brother get beat up by over-grown meatheads in underwear," He rolled his eyes as he finished.

She smiled over at him and poked him in the ribs. "That's right,"

"Alright, come on, I'll go introduce you to some of the boys before the show starts," Johnny said as he led her towards the back. After walking down the hall in the back for only a short time, they stumbled across Derrick and another man talking.

"Hey guys," Johnny greeted as they walked closer to the men.

"Hey Johnny, what's up?" The man Syd didn't know said as they slapped hands.

"Not much, just walking around to introduce some of the guys to my sister," He said as he put his hand on Syd's back pushing her a little closer. "Trent this is my sis Sydney,"

"Nice to meet you," Syd said as she stuck out her hand to the man.

He smiled as he shook her hand. "Likewise,"

She turned her eyes to Derrick and she sure hoped her brother couldn't feel the awkward after effects that she was feeling their last kiss. "Hi Derrick," She said with a grin, hoping to keep things looking normal to her brother. Derrick just nodded his head back.

"So Johnny said you were moving here for a while?" Trent asked curiously.

She nodded. "I am,"

He smiled. "Cool, we'll have to be sure to show you around so you see all the good things about Tampa,"

Now Sydney could have swore she saw Trent wink at her but she couldn't be too sure so she just smiled back. "That'd be great, actually, I haven't really seen much of the city so far,"

Derrick looked from Syd to Trent as the pair politely got acquainted with one another. Were they flirting? In front of Johnny? He looked at Johnny and could tell he barely even noticed as he had that dumb smile on his face, obviously happy his sister and friend were getting along so well. Back to the question at hand; were they flirting? In front of him? His fists tightened instinctively as he remembered the kiss he'd shared with Syd just this morning. Had it meant anything to her? Even though he tried his damn hardest to forget about it, to forget about her, it was nearly impossible. Even as he had been cuddled close to his girlfriend earlier as they watched a movie, his kiss with Sydney- no, Sydney herself, was all he could think about. God, he mentally scolded himself as he ran a tired hand through his hair, he needed to go to therapy or something.

"Alright, let's go see who else we can find," Johnny said, breaking the man's thoughts.

"Um, actually, I think I'm just going to go find a seat and eat my dinner before the show starts," Sydney said as she patter her purse where she had put the Subway sandwich she had picked up on the way over.

"You sure? There's still time before we have to start getting ready." Johnny said.

She shrugged. "It's alright, I'll probably meet them tonight anyway, right?"

"Oh you are coming out with the boys tonight?" Trent asked, interested. She nodded and a slow grin spread across his face. "Cool, remind me to buy you a drink,"

Johnny just rolled his eyes. "Alright then, that's your cue to leave," He said as he gave his sister a little push toward the arena. Once Syd had found a seat that suited her, she sat down and took her sandwich out of her purse. "Pretty empty here, when do the fans start showing up?"

He shrugged. "Probably not for another twenty minutes. You gonna be okay out here until then?"

She nodded. "Yes father, I will be just fine,"

He gave a small chuckle. "Alright, well if you need anything until the show starts, just call my phone," She nodded mid bite and gave him a thumbs up, telling him she would be sure to call him if she needed him.

* * *

The show was a complete blast. As she watched fans enter the arena and excitedly talk amongst themselves about who they were more excited to see tonight, Sydney began to wonder if she would stick out like a sore thumb. She was obviously not very familiar with the sport and she wondered if she would even be able to get into the other matches that didn't have her brother in it.

She, of course, was proven wrong. She found the other fans' energy contagious and before she even knew what was happening she was on her feet with the people around her loudly cheering for a man that she had never seen before. And even though there was still an awkwardness between her and Derrick, she was loudly hollering and clapping for the man during his match. But of course she cheered the loudest for her brother, and proudly embraced him in a hug when he walked over to her after his match.

After the show was over, she stayed in her seat as she watched many of the fans anxiously waiting to take a picture with some of the wrestlers that had come out to greet them. She smiled subconsciously when her brother hefted a little girl into his arms and then made a funny face at the camera.

"Don't tell me you're too shy to ask for an autograph," She heard a manly voice say from her side. She turned and smiled as Trent took the seat next to her.

"I would ask to try to blend in but I don't even know any of these guys' names," She admitted as she turned her body to face him.

He grinned. "You know my name," He pointed out

She jokingly scrunched up her face. "Eh, I'm good," She said, jokingly telling him she didn't want his autograph.

He arched an eyebrow, obviously playing along. "You know, there are plenty of women in hear that would want my autograph,"

She smiled. "And yet, here you are with me,"

Trent couldn't help but laugh and change the subject. "So did you enjoy your first FCW show?"

She instantly nodded. "I wasn't sure what I was going to think but it was actually really fun and I got way more into it than I thought I would."

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's completely different feel than watching a match on TV,"

"So have you been wrestling long?" She asked curiously.

"Full time, pretty much since right out of high school but I wrestled during school too,"

"Wow, well you are really fun to watch. You're so fast and agile yet very entertaining," She complimented.

"Thank you, that's what I'm aiming for," He paused. "You ever thought of stepping in the ring? You know follow in your brother's footsteps?"

Her eyes widened and she gave a little laugh. "Oh no, no, that's definitely Johnny's thing. I only really started watching when he got signed to WWE."

He got a suspicious little smile on his face. "Well…there's a first time for everything," He gave his head a little tilt toward the ring.

She furrowed her brow as she looked at the empty ring. "Wha…" She trailed off as she understood what he was saying. "Oh no, I can't,"

He stood up and outstretched a hand to her. "Can't or won't?"

She looked from his face to his hand before finally grasping his. "If anything happens, I'm blaming you," She said as he led her to the ring steps. He gestured for her to go first and once she was standing on the edge of the ring, her hands clutching the cable ropes, Trent was standing right behind her as he pushed down the middle rope, allowing her to step over it and get in. She stood awkwardly in the ring as she looked around and noticed there were only a few fans left and the rest were slowly flittering out. She looked back at Trent and touched the ring rope again. "Well, that was fun," She said as she started to crouch to leave to ring but Trent's arm wound around her waist.

"Oh come on, quit being a baby. You're not going to get hurt," Trent said with a slight laugh.

* * *

Derrick's jaw clenched as he inconspicuously watched Trent step into the ring with Sydney. What the hell was he doing? He looked around to see where Johnny was and he saw the man was talking with a couple of other wrestlers, obviously oblivious that his sister was in the ring right now. He looked back to the pair in the ring and watched Trent lead Sydney into the middle of the ring.

Derrick felt his veins pulse as he noticed the man's arm wrapped around her waist. Trent instructed Sydney to kick off her shoes, which she did, then he leaned in close to her as he explained what he was going to do, gesturing to the ropes and touching her back where the ropes would probably hit her.

As if in slow motion, Derrick saw Trent whip Sydney into the ropes where she let out a little squeal and if he wasn't watching his friend perform a wrestling move on her, he would think that squeal was cute. After she bumped off the ropes she was propelled back to Trent who easily scooped her up, hauling her over his shoulder.

Derrick had seen enough and he instantly marched over to the pair, Trent spinning her in circles and Sydney laughing her ass off. "Dude, what are you doing? She's going to get hurt." He said.

Trent turned around and smiled at his friend. "Hey man, you want next?"

"No I don't want next, you're going to hurt her." He said, seriously.

Trent seemed to just understand his friends' seriousness and he frowned as he gently slid Sydney to her feet. "Dude, we were just messing around,"

Derrick saw both of them look at him like he ruined a party. God, what the hell was he doing? "Just…be careful," He said keeping his eyes on the ground as he hefted his bag over his shoulder and left the arena.

* * *

"Hey, you alright man?" Johnny asked as he sat down next to his friend at one of the tables at the bar they were at. He set a glass of water in front of the man while taking a sip of his beer. "Trent said you were acting kind of weird before you left the arena earlier,"

Derrick smiled at his friend. After leaving the arena, he headed back to his place so he could change clothes and clear his head. He had scolded himself on his behavior earlier. He had no right to act like a jealous boyfriend…well unless it was in regards to Tabatha. He had to fucking pull himself together and get over this little crush he seemed to have on Sydney. So starting tonight he was going back to being the laid back, funny guy that he was. "Nah, man, I'm good," He confirmed as he grabbed the water glass in front of him. "Mmm, nothing like pretending water tastes like beer," He said with a mocking grimace. It was, after all, his turn to be the designated driver. Johnny just laughed and they both turned their attention to their fellow patrons as they scoped out just who was here tonight. Derrick, of course, zeroed in on Sydney sitting on at the bar, her head thrown back in laughter as she playfully swatted Trent's shoulder as he leaned in closer as he continued whatever story he was telling.

He glanced over at Johnny to see if he noticed the pair. "Anything happening there?" He questioned as he took a nonchalant sip of water.

"Where?" Johnny asked.

He nodded his head in the direction of the man's sister. "Your sister and Trent?"

Johnny looked over there and made a 'huh' sound as if he had only just noticed their closeness. "Nah, I doubt it," He said after a minute of observing the couple who was obviously enjoying each other's company. "I don't think my sister's really interested in anyone right now,"

Derrick resisted his inner desire to proudly puff out his chest at the fact the Syd actually was interested in someone right now- him. "I don't know, I'd keep my eye on that if I were you,"

Johnny just chuckled. "Man, trust me, nothing is happening and nothing will happen there," Johnny assured his friend before he stood up from the table and walked over to his friends in the corner.

* * *

Sydney swore she only had two drinks…or was it three? She really didn't know. What she did know was that she was having a great time and enjoying the company of a hilarious man. She glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw Derrick watching her. She'd felt his eyes on her all night actually. But of course, knowing her, she just assumed he would avert his gaze elsewhere and even if he didn't, she knew she wouldn't confront him. But after a few drinks, one of which was a fuzzy nipple thanks to Trent, she was suddenly very ready to talk to him about their past indiscretions.

She grabbed the water that she had responsibly switched over to, excused herself from Trent and made her way over to Derrick, who once he realized she was coming his way, he immediately deterred his eyes away from her. "Hey Derrick," She said with a smile as she sat down next to him.

"Hey," He said and smiled when he got a good look at her. "You had a couple drinks sweetheart?"

"Well, we are in a bar," She said, setting her drink on the table. "So, listen, I think we should talk about our kiss…well…kisses," She corrected herself.

He was a little taken aback at first. He hadn't expected the subject to be broached tonight and definitely not so bluntly. "Ok," He stretched the word skeptically. "Should we do this here?" He questioned as he looked around to see who was near. He instantly spotted Johnny across the room talking to a couple friends.

"Yes, we have to. I mean, the first time…ok, forgivable. But twice?" She asked incredulously, as if she still couldn't believe it. "What's going on with us?" She asked straight forward.

He clutched his hands together nervously. "Well…I think we are obviously attracted to each other," He stated and then looked at her for confirmation. She nodded. "But I don't know why that keeps happening. I mean, no offense to you or anything, but I am not the type to cheat." He said as he leaned closer, his voice now lowered. "No matter how much I fight with Tabatha, she doesn't deserve to be cheated on,"

She nodded. "I know you're not the type to cheat and I am definitely not the type to go after a guy that is taken; that's why I am so confused."

"Listen, we can try to analyze this to death but really the only thing we can do is try to not-" He started but was interrupted when he heard someone screech his name.

"Derrick!" Both Derrick and Sydney confusedly looked in the direction of the voice. A woman wearing a skin tight pink mini dress, who really could double as a Barbie doll, was heading their way. Syd looked at Derrick and the surprised look on his face told her that this was his girlfriend. "Tabs, what are you doing here?" He asked, as he stood up to greet her. He had of course invited her to come hang out but he always did and she never took him up on his offer. She pulled him into a hug and then planted a kiss on his lips. She deepened this kiss, which Derrick assumed was probably for Syd's benefit, you know, marking her territory and all that.

"Does a girl need an excuse to spend time with her boyfriend and his friends?" She asked with a smirk as they both sat down, Tabatha on his other side. She turned her attention to Sydney and a snide smile overtook her face. "He doesn't need your company anymore sweetheart, his girlfriend is here,"

Derrick turned to face Syd after he heard that and watched as she shrank back in surprise and her face contorted in disgust. Obviously not the way he wanted the two to meet, he was hoping they would actually like each other. "Babe," He said in a warning voice. "Sydney is not-"

"No," Sydney interrupted, putting her hand out to stop him. "It's ok, I get it," She said with a tight smile as she grabbed her drink before leaving the table.

He let out a sigh. Dammit, just when he thought he was going to be free of any extra drama. "What did you do that for?" He asked Tabatha.

"What?" She asked confused.

"You were really rude,"

She smiled and raised a hand to touch his face. "Oh baby, she was obviously trying to pick you up, I was doing you a favor."

He shook his head frustratingly at his girlfriend. "She wasn't trying to pick me up Tabatha, that's Sydney, Johnny's sister, we were just talking."

Her eyes widened slightly. "Oh," She paused. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to but you were talking out of your ass before I could introduce you,"

She frowned. "Derrick, that's not fair. I made a mistake, I'll apologize, she'll understand,"

He let out a sigh, not wanting to fight right now. "Fine, whatever,"

She smiled and kissed his lips softly. "So how long is she visiting?"

Damn, another thing they were going to fight about. "Actually, she's living with him for a while."

Her smile instantly faltered. "Really?" He nodded. "And when did she move in?"

"Saturday,"

"Saturday? And you're just now telling me this?" She asked, obviously annoyed.

"Well, I didn't really think it was important," He lied.

"Of course it is important. You're at Johnny's more often than you are at your own place. I don't like this Derrick," She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Come on babe, it's Johnny's sister, what exactly do you think is gonna happen?" He questioned and smiled when she just pouted. God, he hated that pout. It was so fake and obviously just meant she wanted attention. But at least he knew she wasn't really mad at him. "Besides, I have you, why would I want anyone else?" He said what he knew she wanted to hear.

The pout slowly turned into a small smile. "Well, I still don't feel comfortable with that,"

"Hey," He said, tucking some of her hair behind her ears. "We'll talk about this later, let's just enjoy tonight, yeah?"

She thought it over for a moment before nodded with a smile and kissing him. "So how was your match tonight?"

"It was good," He said simply, knowing she didn't really care.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks, as always for your wonderful reviews! I absolutely love them! Hopefully you guys enjoy reading this chapter as well, let me know what you think! :) [omg you guys, you do not even understand my frustration! it is a miracle I finally got this posted! I have been trying to post this since Friday! But for some reason the site would just not let me. I apologize for the delay, hopefully whatever glitch was going on is fixed]  
**


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town**

_Chapter 11_

Sydney popped open one eye and groaned as she pulled her pillow on top of her face, pressing it close to block out the loud screeching of the blender. "Are you serious?" She groan-mumbled into her pillow.

Johnny chuckled from the kitchen as he watched his sister squirm painfully from the noise he was making.

She relaxed when the blender stopped. She let out a relieved breath as she snuggled closer to the couch cushions. Moments later she heard the distinct sound of a knife repeatedly hitting a cutting board. God, had that sound always been so loud and obnoxious? She threw the pillow off her face. "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you." She proclaimed groggily.

Johnny just laughed. "Good morning sunshine. Got a bit of a headache do you?" She just groaned. "I'm not surprised, you were pretty drunk last night,"

"Yeah, yeah," She mumbled. "What time is it?"

"Just after 8; time to get up you lazy bum,"

She groaned. "What on earth are you making?" She asked as she slowly sat up, knowing he wasn't going to let her go back to sleep.

"My daily smoothie," He said as he took a sip of said drink. "And an omelet. Want one?"

"No," She said as she walked over to sit on a bar stool at the counter.

"Yeah you do," He said as he reached into an overhead cabinet and pulled down a bottle of Advil. "Getting something to eat with help you feel a lot better," He said as he handed her a couple of pills along with a bottle of water.

She immediately took the medicine from him and swallowed them, washing it down with a gulp of water. "So, what's on your agenda today?" She asked as she watched him combine some eggs and vegetables on a pan to create an omelet.

"Well, after breakfast we," He said, gesturing between them. "are going to go to the gym."

She groaned. "Johnny, really, not today," She began but her brother cut her off.

"Nuh-uh," He said sliding the omelet onto a plate and setting it in front of her. "I am not going to allow you to use a hangover as an excuse to sit inside all day doing nothing."

She rolled her eyes as she accepted the fork he handed her. "God, you are such a pain,"

He just smiled as he went to work making his omelet. "Anyway, later tonight you and me are going to Derrick's for dinner." This had Sydney on alert. "Apparently Tabatha wants to make dinner for the four of us tonight."

"Hmm…really?" She commented as she chewed her food. "That's weird, I don't take her a Susie Homemaker type,"

Johnny raised a confused eyebrow. "You haven't even met her,"

"I sure did, last night. Not the most pleasant woman is she?"

His gaze narrowed. "What did she say to you?" He asked protectively.

She waved it off, not wanting to cause trouble. "Well, I was sitting, talking with Derrick when she showed up. Made a comment about me being a groupie of some sort and basically dismissed me now that "his girlfriend" was there," She explained.

"Did Derrick say anything to her?" He asked as he plated his breakfast and sat down next to her.

She shrugged. "He looked like he was about to say something but I just left. I didn't want to cause any trouble, I know they've recently been having a difficult time,"

"Hmm," He mumbled as his jaw twitched in irritation.

"But it wasn't a huge surprise. You did warn me about her so I wasn't expecting little miss welcoming,"

"Still…Derrick should have mentioned something to me…I'll have to have a talk with him later."

"Really, it's not that big of a deal. Besides, aside from tonight, we probably won't see each other often," Sydney said, not wanting start anything.

Johnny shook his head. "No, I'm not dropping this. She gets away with shit like this all the time," Syd just let out a sigh, knowing her big brother wasn't going to drop it.

* * *

An hour later Sydney was slowly moving her legs as she watched the television screen in the corner of the room while she was on the elliptical machine. She let out a yawn as she impatiently waited for Johnny to finish his workout. She'd been on the same machine for about a half hour and she just could not muster the strength to move on. It wasn't even the hangover that was making her so lethargic- it was knowing that she was going to have dinner tonight with Derrick and Tabatha.

She was trying to think of an excuse to get out of going but she knew Johnny would be able to see right through her.

"Hey, this machine free?" Someone asked from beside her. She turned and saw a short yet muscular little blonde with her hand on the machine to her right.

"Nope, it's all yours," Syd said with a friendly smile.

"You're Sydney right? We were introduced last night," The girl said as she started moving her legs on the machine, already moving at a much faster pace than Sydney had the whole half hour she'd been there.

"We were?" She questioned, embarrassed. She groaned. "God, I feel awful, I don't remember meeting you at all," She admitted feeling like a bitch. How many other people had she met last night that she didn't remember?

The girl just gave a laugh. "Don't even worry about it. You were a little hammered at the time of introduction,"

Another groan from the younger Curtis. "Which is so embarrassing. I honestly never drink that much," And she really never did; last night she had known when she needed to cut herself off and she had done just that until that unfortunate meeting with Tabatha.

The girl waved it off. "Hey, seriously, don't sweat it. We all get like that once in a while. I'm Kaitlin," She introduced with a smile.

Syd smiled backed, thankful for her friendliness. "Nice to meet you,"

"Likewise. I've heard a lot about you and it's nice to finally put the face to the name,"

She let out a little sigh that was a half chuckle. "So nice to hear. I've only met like two of Johnny's friends…well, that I remember anyway, and neither of them are women,"

Kaitlin grinned. "Well, don't you worry girly, I'll be sure to introduce you to all the girls around here."

"That'd be really great actually." Syd confirmed.

"Not a problem. So how are you liking Tampa so far?" Kaitlin questioned.

"I really like it so far, more than I thought I would. But I have to really take some time to wander around and see everything,"

She nodded. "Yeah, it's a great place, I think you'll really like it here,"

"Hey Syd, you ready to go?" Johnny bellowed at the end of the row of multiple ellipticals, a towel in his hand as he wiped sweat from his face. He didn't look too happy and didn't walk any closer, instead staying where he was.

Syd nodded at him and turned to Kaitlin, her legs slowing as her machine came to a stop. "Well, I guess I'll let you work out in peace,"

Kaitlin smiled at her. "I'll see you later,"

Syd nodded and gave her a wave before making her way to her brother. He looked skeptically over her head at Kaitlin before leading his sister out of the gym. The walk to the car was silent but when they were inside the car, Johnny spoke. "You were talking to Kaitlin?" Syd looked at her brother as he kept his eyes on the road as he navigated out of the parking lot.

"Yeah," She said slowly, not sure what he was getting out.

He let out a long breath. "I want you to be careful around her. She's not the kind of girl I want you to hang around."

She furrowed her brow in confusion. "Why?"

He chewed on his lip thoughtfully before glancing at her. "Just trust me on this Syd. I'm not going to tell you who you can or can't hang out with, mostly because I know you wouldn't listen to me anyway, but just watch yourself and be cautious around her." Sydney stared at her brother thoughtfully, wondering what his deal was with Kaitlin. She just nodded, agreeing to his advice.

* * *

**A/N: Omg you guys, I am so so sorry for the delay! I started writing this like midweek but I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to finish it. And then I meant to post this earlier today but the time got away from me! Again so sorry, please forgive me! As always thanks for your wonderful reviews, I love them a bunch! :) Oh and happy belated Wrestlemania weekend, hope everyone had fun!**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town  
**

_Chapter 12_

"Ugh, I can't believe you are making me do this," Sydney said to her brother the next day as they walked down the hall of Derrick's apartment complex towards his door. After hitting the gym with Johnny, the two had run some errands before making their way back to the apartment to relax until they had to leave for dinner. Syd took some time out of the day to give her mom a call and make sure that Garrett wasn't bothering her anymore. She was relieved to hear that he hadn't been by since the last incident. And now, here she was ready to eat dinner with Derrick, who since their last make out session and the awkwardness that had engulfed them since, made her incredibly self-conscious, and his girlfriend Tabatha, who clearly was not a fan of hers. Johnny had called Derrick around the same time Syd had called their mom and she guessed her brother basically bitched his friend out because he'd later told her he'd "handled the situation".

"Oh quit being a baby," Johnny said giving her a light shove closer to the door they were approaching. "If she's smart she won't say anything bitchy," He said protectively.

Well, there was that, not knowing what Tabatha would say to her next, but there was also the fact that she had unbeknownst to her hooked up with the woman's boyfriend. That automatically made things strained. "Yeah, I guess," She said as her brother raised his hand to knock on the door.

Derrick opened the door minutes later with a wide smile on his face. "Hey guys, come on in," Sydney wasn't sure if his smile was a hundred percent genuine but she assumed he was making it seem like nothing had happened the night before and they were all going to be the best of friends after this dinner.

"Hey," Sydney said a little timidly as she walked in the apartment, looking around as if waiting to be jumped.

Derrick noticed her hesitance but didn't comment on it. "You guys hungry? Got lots of food cooking," He said though he couldn't guarantee the food would be good. Derrick had been initially surprised when his girlfriend suggested they have Johnny and Sydney over for dinner. He'd been even more surprised when she offered to cook. Tabatha was not a very good cook, not that she even cooked often, if ever.

"Hey!" A loud voice shrieked. The trio turned and saw a smiling Tabatha leaving the kitchen, arms outstretched as she approached them. "Hey Johnny, how are you?" She asked as she pulled him in a hug.

"I'm not too happy with you," He said honestly as he stood stiffly with her arms around him.

She pulled back, face confused. "What?" She asked as if he had no reason to be upset with her. Then it seemed to dawn on her. "Oh," She said looking over at Sydney. "Johnny, you have to know that was a big mistake. I feel awful." She said and then suddenly pulled Sydney into a hug. Syd's arms fell still at her sides, her eyes wide from surprise. "Sydney…I truly am so sorry." She pulled back to look the woman in the eye. "If I had known you were Johnny's sister, I never would have said any of those terrible things." Syd resisted asking if it was appropriate to say those mean things to strangers. "Please, can you forgive me? I really would love to get to know you." Tabatha said with a hopeful smile on her face.

God, Syd didn't want to say yes. She really wanted nothing to do with this woman. But as her gaze glided over Derrick's hopeful face, how could she say no? "Uh…sure."

Tabatha's eyes lit up. "Oh great!" She pulled her in again for a quick embrace before pulling back. "We are going to be best friends!" Syd truly hoped not. "Ok so I have to finish cooking dinner, Derrick why don't you get our guests a drink." She suggested with a nod before going back into the kitchen.

"Guys? Something to drink?" Derrick asked attentively. Funny, Sydney never would have pinned him down as whipped.

"Just some water's fine." Syd said and Johnny nodded his head in agreement. Once Derrick left to get them a drink, she turned to her brother. "I'm gonna go grab something from one of my boxes. I meant to keep it at your place but I forgot." She said as her brother made his way over to the couch. He nodded at her and she turned and walked down the hall to the room she remembered leaving her things in.

A minute later she was searching through her boxes. She heard footsteps enter the room and she turned around, offering a small smile when she saw Derrick with a glass of water in hand. "Hey, I'm just searching for some things I meant to leave at Johnny's" She explained as she turned back around to continue rummaging.

"It's cool, I, uh, actually wanted to talk to you…about Tabatha." He said hesitantly, not sure how she was going to take what he had to say.

She turned to face him as she let out a somewhat annoyed breath. "What about her?" She'd already told the woman she would forget about what happened and move on, what else did he want?

"Listen, I know Tabatha already apologized to you earlier and you forgave her and I really appreciate that. But I just wanted to let you know that I am truly sorry for what she said to you. It was totally uncalled for and I talked to her about it last night and she genuinely feels bad." He said, though he wasn't too sure his girlfriend was ever truly sorry for anything she apologized for.

Syd gave a little laugh and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm sorry, you expect me to believe she's 'genuinely' sorry?" She asked with an eyebrow raised in disbelief. "There is nothing genuine or sorry about your girlfriend." She said honestly.

Derrick put his hands on his hips. "Come on, Syd…let's not go backwards here. You accepted Tabatha's apology, I just wanted to apologize too. Now let's move on."

Syd immediately walked over to the door, silently looked outside it to make sure both her brother and Tabatha were not nearby before quietly closing the door, being sure to leave it open a crack just so no one gets suspicious. She walked back over to him, stopping just inches away. "Listen to me closely Bateman," She said stabbing her finger on his chest. "I forgave Tabatha and I will forget what happened," She confessed her voice a low hiss. "But not because she asked me to and not because you want us to get along. I did it for my own sanity so that I don't need to hold a grudge against her. But let me tell you this…Me and your girlfriend will never be friends. I don't mean to insult you, but she is just not someone I would ever be friends with and no matter how bad you want us to get along…it's not going to happen."

He looked at her, confused. "But why? I don't understand why you won't just give her a chance." He said even though he wasn't too surprised, just disappointed.

She looked down at her feet and gulped before looking back up at him. "I probably shouldn't tell you this…" She trailed off, angry at herself that she was actually going to tell him what she had been silently denying since arriving in Tampa. "But this is the only possible explanation I have for disliking Tabatha so much." She paused and looked him in the eye as she spoke. "I like you Derrick. And you kissing on me those past couple times hasn't helped any. I don't know how or when but I have developed strong feelings for you and I can't stand by and watch you be with that bitch. And it's pretty much for that reason that we have to only be friends. No more confusing kisses, no more flirting or jealousy on your part," She said reminding Derrick of his little jealous streak the night before when she was with Trent. "It's all got to end because you have Tabatha." She stated firmly. She snatched the glass of water from his hand and reached into the box she was nearest to grab something, anything to make it actually look like she actually needed to get something she forgot. "I really did come here to get something but you've pissed me off so much I can't even concentrate." She clarified, mostly to break the awkward silence that had encompassed them after she had confessed her feelings.

Derrick watched her as she left the room carrying her class of water and a couple Nsync CD's. He stood there stunned as he replayed what she had said. "I like you", he heard over and over. Damn, he knew he should feel embarrassment or an obligation to tell his girlfriend. But all he felt was happiness. A small smile spread across his face as he felt a feeling of pride spread over him.

* * *

Derrick walked back into the living room and saw that Sydney had rejoined Johnny on the couch and the siblings were picking around in the chip bowl Tabatha had set out earlier, along with a bowl of salsa. "I'm going to go check on the food," He announced before going into the kitchen where Tabatha was standing with the oven door opened a crack. "How's it going in here?" Tabatha faced him and by the look on her face, he knew something was wrong. "What'd I do now?" He asked tiredly.

She leveled him with a glare. "She's storing her things here?" She questioned, her neck stuck out doing the 'what now' gesture. He let out an audible sigh as he leaned against the counter. "First you keep it a secret that she's living with Johnny and now she's keeping her things in your spare bedroom. What else are you hiding from me?"

He had to resist rolling his eyes. "Nothing, I'm not hiding anything from you. I'm sorry, I didn't know I had to run what is stored in my house by you."

She stomped her foot like a little child. "Derrick, you know that is not what I am saying."

"What are you saying?" He asked, struggling to keep his voice down.

"It'd be nice if you share things with me again…like you used to," She gave her famous pout before turning back around so her back was to him. Silence surrounded the couple in the kitchen. "Dinner's almost ready," She said closing the oven door. She grabbed her glass of wine and slapped a smile on her face before walking into the living room. "Hey guys, dinner should be ready very soon. You two need anything?"

Sydney and Johnny both shook their heads. "Nope, we're good."

"Well, Sydney, I was wondering if you'd like to join me on the balcony so we can get to know each other better." Tabatha suggested with a smile.

Sydney looked a little surprised but nodded nonetheless. "Sure," She said before pushing herself up and following the other woman onto the balcony. Derrick sat down on the couch perpendicular to the one Johnny was sitting on as they both watched the women through the clear window. Derrick had a bad feeling about this considering the conversation he just had with his girlfriend.

* * *

"First off," Tabatha began as the two woman stood in opposite corners of the small balcony. "I just want to apologize again for my behavior yesterday. I genuinely feel terrible." Sydney was about to tell her it was ok but the woman continued. "It's just that ever since Derrick has been on TV, he's getting a lot of unwanted attention from girls and I just assumed that you were another one who just wanted to hook up with him cause he's famous."

No longer could Sydney bite her tongue. "It's ok, it's only natural for you to start feeling insecure,"

Tabatha blinked at her. "Uh…excuse me? Insecure? I'm not insecure," She laughed it off.

Syd smiled sweetly. "It's ok, I mean your boyfriend is getting all the attention when you go out now and your worried he's going to take one of those girls up on their offers."

* * *

"Oh shit," Derrick mumbled as he watched his girlfriend's face redden in rage. They couldn't hear what the girls were saying but the boys could definitely see their reactions to what they were saying. This cannot be good, we should stop this," He said and Johnny laughed.

His sister was smiling so whatever she was saying, she was loving. "Hell no," He said as they continued to watch the train wreck in progress.

* * *

"You little…" Tabatha started, her lip snarled up in anger. "Listen to me," She said pointing her finger. "Derrick and I are absolutely perfect. No way would I be insecure about him cheating on me because he never would," Syd had to squeeze her lips closed on that one. "And you have a lot of nerve saying that to me,"

"Hey, sorry," Syd raised her arms up in surrender. "I just call it like I see. You guys have been having some problems lately and you don't act very secure in your relationship."

That had Tabatha standing up straighter. "How do you know we're having problems?"

Syd gave a small smile. "See, insecurity," Damn, she wasn't a normally ruthless person but it actually felt good to be somewhat mean.

The woman's face tensed and grew even redder with irritation. "I want you out of my house," She demanded in a low voice

"Well, it's technically not your house," She couldn't help but point out which only further ignited the woman's annoyance. "But I'd be glad to leave," She said before pulling open the sliding door and walking inside the apartment. "I've been asked to leave," She announced to the pair sitting on the couch. "So I'll see you later," She said to Johnny as she grabbed her purse and made her way to the door.

"What? Hey, wait up!" Johnny said as he stood up and caught up with his sister. At that moment they heard the slam of a door down the hall, Tabatha throwing a little tantrum obviously. "What happened?" He questioned, with a hint of amusement. No one had messed with Tabatha like this before.

She waved it off. "I told her how I saw things and she disagreed. Listen, don't make a big deal out of it, stay and enjoy dinner. I just don't want to deal with this right now," She said, running a hand over her forehead.

Johnny nodded instantly and brought her into a hug. She was supposed to be in Tampa to get away from all the drama and commotion that she had left at home, she didn't need it here too. "Sure, here, you take my car, I'll just catch a ride," he said and then looked over his shoulder at Derrick who stood a few feet away looking guilty for his girlfriend's dramatics, especially since he just wanted to pull Syd into a hug himself.

Derrick nodded, indicating he would give Johnny a ride back to his place later. "Sure, no problem. Syd, you want me to make you a plate of food you can take home?"

She gave a small smile. Damn he was sweet. "No thanks, I'll just find something at home." Truth was she was skeptical to eat anything Tabatha made anyway, who knows what kind of poison she would feed her. "Sorry guys, I didn't mean for dinner to go this way,"

"Hey," Johnny instantly said. "Don't say that,"

"Yeah, really it's not your fault," Derrick said honestly.

She let out a sigh and nodded. "Alright, I'll see you guys later," She said with a wave before leaving.

* * *

Syd looked away from the TV when she heard the door open. "Hey," She said with a smile as Johnny walked in the room. "How was dinner?"

Johnny groaned. "Disgusting. Seriously, you lucked out." She laughed. "Hey so, the guys called and they're going out, want to come?"

She moaned. "I still haven't recovered from last night."

He laughed. "Alright, and you're ok with what happened tonight?"

"If you're asking if I would rather you sit by my side so I can cry on your shoulder, no, honestly I'm over it. You go out,"

"Ok, but call me if you need me," He said as he grabbed his car keys.

"Will do," She confirmed before he left.

* * *

Not even a half an hour later, the doorbell rang. Sydney groaned and paused the horror movie she was watching, set down her half full pint of coffee ice cream and made her way over to the door. She pulled it open and was surprised to see Derrick standing there. "Uh, hey," She said and stepped to the side so the man could come inside. "You just missed Johnny, he went out with the boys. I thought 'the boys' included you," She explained.

"Yeah, I was there but I couldn't stay," He said as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

She nodded as they stood near the door awkwardly. "So…what are you doing here?" She asked. She was pretty sure earlier tonight she had set things straight that they could no longer make out occasionally because she was actually developing feelings for him. So why was he here?

He licked his lips. "I've been thinking about what you said earlier." He stated. "I feel the same way," He said bluntly as he stepped closer to her. "You are beautiful and smart and genuinely kind and everything I have ever looked for in someone." He licked his lips again as he looked down at her lips, which were slightly parted in surprise at his words. "I know this is a sticky situation and I haven't figured out how things are going to work out but I do know I can't deny myself what I want. Syd, I really…really like you." He hesitantly reached out and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She closed her eyes when his hand rested on her cheek. A moment later his lips were on hers. She moaned into the kiss, immediately giving in as her arms wound around his neck as the kiss deepened with intensity. She felt him lift her up, her legs automatically wrapping around his waist. She regretfully ripped her lips from his as she realized he didn't know where to go. There was only one bed in the place and this definitely wasn't about to go down in Johnny's bed. "Couch," She said huskily before pressing her lips to his once more.

He gently laid her down on the couch, climbing on top of her eagerly. Only a few minutes passed before both of their shirts were off, their breathing heavy as they took a few seconds break to get air back into their lungs. "You sure?" Derrick questioned, wanting to make sure.

She smiled up at him. "So sure," She said as she pulled his lips back down to hers.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks as always for your amazing reviews, I love them! :)**


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town  
**

_Chapter 13_

Sydney lay contented a half hour after her little romp session with Derrick. They were lying on the couch, she was partly on top of him as his arm was wrapped around her shoulders and her fingers lightly massaging his chest. They had been in the same position since they finished and neither felt any need to speak and ruin the moment.

Derrick buried his face in her hair and inhaled deeply. "Mmmm…" He moaned as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I'd say that was a good end to a hellish day,"

She grinned as she rolled over more so she could face. She pressed a kiss to his lips. "I'd say you are right," She glanced over at the clock and sighed regretfully. "Johnny could be back any time now, we'd better get dressed,"

He whined like a little kid and she giggled as she sat up, him following her on the way, wrapping his arms around her waist laying multiple kisses on her shoulders. "Do we have to?"

"Yes we do," She said though she didn't want to move any more than he did. Once they were both dressed and they had straightened the couch out, they sat down next to each other. "So how'd you calm down Tabatha anyway?" She asked curiously as she ran her fingers over his palm, which he had set on her leg.

He raised an amused eyebrow. "Who said I did calm her down?"

She gave a short laugh. "Because if you didn't then there was no way she would have allowed you to go out with the boys," She told him matter-of-factly.

He shot her an offended look, though he was anything but, he got the same ribbing from the boys in the locker room, he was used to it. "You act like she controls me,"

She shot him a look of pity as she reached a hand up to softly caress his face. "Sweetie, she kind of does. You do whatever she says," She explained, wanting him to see that Tabatha wasn't even worth his time.

He let out a sigh, understanding what she was saying. "Sometimes it's just easier to let her think she's right rather than start an argument. Even when I do disagree with her, I end up apologizing just because she's so stubborn."

Sydney frowned at his frustrated expression. "Hey," She said in a soft voice to get his attention. When his gaze was on hers she smiled. "Sorry I brought it up; I don't want you to be upset."

He smiled back and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her lips. "I'm not upset…just realizing my relationship may be at its end." Syd wanted to shout in happiness but she held back because she didn't want to disrespect Derrick and his relationship in any way. "What do you say we watch a movie?" He suggested, changing the subject, and she nodded.

An hour later, the pair that had been snuggled up together as a comedy played on the TV, sprang apart to opposite sides of the couch when they heard the distinct sound of keys jingling on the other side of the door. "Syd? You still awake?" Johnny asked as he walked into the room. He stopped in his tracks when he saw his sister was not alone. He blinked in surprise. "Hey dude, what are you…doing here?" He asked confused. He could have sworn the man had left the bar hours ago to go home. "I thought you were going to check on Tabatha?"

Derrick nodded, having already expected this reaction from his friend. "Yeah, I was going to but I figured she was already asleep and I didn't want to wake her. I was driving by and I wanted to stop by here to apologize to Syd for Tabs' behavior,"

"I forgave him," Syd popped in. "so we decided to watch a movie,"

Johnny nodded. Though he accepted the explanation, he couldn't help but think he was missing something here. "All right, well I'm going to grab a shower and head to bed." He looked at his sister who nodded, unaffected by this information. He then looked at his friend and shot him a look that said 'no way am I leaving you alone this late with my sister. Hit the bricks'. Derrick took the hint.

"Yeah, I better head to bed too," He said, standing up.

Though Syd wanted to walk him to the door and share a goodnight kiss, no way could she do that with her brother standing right there. "Night, drive safe,"

Derrick nodded, also wanting that goodnight kiss but knowing that couldn't happen. "See you guys' later," He offered with a wave before leaving.

Johnny watched his friend leave before turning back to his sister who had already diverted her attention back to the movie. He was definitely missing something here and he didn't like it. But he had no doubt he'd get down to the bottom of it eventually. "Night sis, love you," He said, bending down to kiss the top of her head.

"Goodnight," She said back to him before he disappeared into his room.

* * *

The next morning while Johnny was running around the city doing errands, Sydney decided to hit the gym and she was better able to enjoy it today than she had the day before in her hungover state. She even ventured further than the elliptical and grabbed a mat, walking over the floor so she could do some abdominal exercises. After she did a couple hundred bicycles she heard someone call her name. She sat up and looked where the voice was coming from.

"Hey, I thought that was you!" Kaitlin said enthusiastically as she walked over.

"Hi," Syd said shyly as she instantly remembered Johnny's warning to watch out for the woman.

"How are you?" She asked as she sat down next to Sydney.

"Good…sober," Syd joked and Kaitlin laughed. "How are you?"

"Pretty good. But hey, I'm glad I ran into you. A bunch of the girls from FCW are going out tonight and I instantly thought of you. You should totally tag along, it's going to be a blast!"

"Oh," She said in surprise at the invitation. "That, uh, that is really nice of you." She said as she frantically tried to think of something to say. Did she say yes? It would be really nice to get to know some woman around here and make friends. But she couldn't forget what Johnny had told her about this particular woman. "Um, I'm not sure if Johnny has plans for us tonight but why don't you let me know where you are going and if I'm free, I'll come by," She offered as she grabbed her phone to type in the club name the other woman told her.

"Great, hopefully you'll be able to make it," Kaitlin said as she stood up. "Well, I'll see you later, I was just on my way out when I saw you,"

"See you later," Syd echoed as the woman left.

* * *

Once Sydney got home from the gym and she noticed Johnny wasn't home yet so she decided she'd go next door and see what Jeff was up to. He opened the door just a few short seconds after she knocked and she smiled when she saw his grumbling face. "Hey Jeff, how are you doing?"

His grumbling continued as he stepped aside to let her in. "Well I was doing good until you nearly pounded down my damn door. I'm not deaf you know, just old," He scolded her loud knocking as he led her over to the couch.

She couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sorry I suppose I should stick to knocking rather than pounding huh?" She questioned rhetorically as Dex ran up to her, his tail shaking, a bone in his mouth. "Oh hi Dex," She cooed in a baby voice. "It's so nice to see you today. Did you bring this bone for me? That's so sweet of you!" She said as she puckered her lips and placed an exaggerated kiss on the dog's snout. She continued petting the dog as she looked up to see what Jeff was watching. "Katt Williams?" She questioned as she watched the stand-up comic deliver jokes on stage.

"Funny guy," Jeff commented, his eyes firmly planted on the TV.

"You plan on doing this all day?" She asked as she accepted a kiss on the cheek from Dex. He nodded his head in confirmation. "Oh no you don't," She said as she reached over to grab the remote to turn off the TV. "Come on, you're coming with me to take Dex on a walk," She said as she stood up. The dogs head tilted to the side excitedly at the mention of the word 'walk'.

"I'm going where?" Jeff questioned in surprise. "I can't do that. I'm busy right now," He said as he reached for the remote.

She held it out of reach. "You are watching a show that you have probably seen at least a dozen times," She said and her thoughts were confirmed by the guilty as charged look that passed over Jeff's face. "Come on," She said, knowing he really did want to get outside but was just too stubborn to admit it. "Let's get some fresh air," She suggested with a clap of her hands.

The older man rolled his eyes before nodding reluctantly. "All right, all right, but not for too long."

She went over to the coat rack that was sitting next to the door and grabbed Dex's leash. Once the dog was hook up and Jeff had put on a light coat, the trio headed outside. "All right, let's head this way," Syd said as she hooked her arm through Jeff's as she held Dex's leash in her other hand, the dog eagerly sniffing the ground as he walked ahead of them. "So you said you grew up in Tampa?" She asked curiously to get to know the older man better.

He nodded. "Yes, born and raised,"

"And your wife?" She questioned.

He instantly smiled. "Well Karen-" He started but stopped. "Karen was my wife," He explained and Syd nodded. "Well…Karen actually grew up in a smallish town outside Miami. For some reason that I never was quite sure about, though I think it has to do with the small size of her town, she couldn't wait to leave. And she didn't wait very long; just a couple weeks after graduating high school, she moved to Miami to go to college."

"So let me guess, right after she graduated and moved, you two met and ran off to be together in sunny Florida?"

He chuckled. "I wish. No, in fact, we didn't even meet until a couple years after she moved there. She was going to school and I was working at a local auto body shop; she was visiting the city with some friends from school for vacation. I went to high school with her friends and we were introduced. Well, anyway," He waved his hand as he got off topic. "we went on a couple dates and…" He chuckled. "you know what happens next. Happily ever after and all that."

Syd smiled at his smile that showed true love for his late wife. "And then you got married?"

Another shake of his head. "Afraid not. We didn't even think of settling down until we were well into our forty's." Her eyebrows raised in surprise. "After she finished school, she moved to Tampa. I had been very successful in the mechanic industry, I had even opened my own shop, and Karen had been doing well for herself with her own daycare; one day we just woke up and wondered what the hell we were doing. So within two weeks we closed our doors at work for good, sold the apartment we shared together and set off to travel the world. Well of course after a quick stop in Vegas to get hitched."

"Aw, I love it!" She said excitedly. It was like a real life movie. The pair was silent for a few minutes as they watched Dex eagerly zigzag on the sidewalk to make sure he was able to sniff everything around. They stopped, gave the leash a slight tug and turned around to go back the way they had come. "So you two explored the country?" She asked to pick the story up again.

He nodded. "And then some. We spent a few months exploring the states and then a few months going overseas and seeing what the world had to offer." Jeff explained.

"Wow, geez, what a life you've lived." She said, jealous that she herself had never really traveled. "I've only really been to some of the major cities on the east coast; I can't imagine going out of the country,"

"Hey now, keep in mind that all this happened in my forty's; I had a lot of catching up to do. You are still young, there is still time for you to live your life and see the world." He lectured as they approached the apartment building, Dex getting a little sluggish as his walk tired him out.

"I know, I know," She whined. "I'm just impatient."

"Don't be. One day everything will come together for you. You'll find the man you want to spend the rest of your life with and you'll know where you want to be. You can't rush these things, you have to wait for the stars to align, you're time will come."

She took his words to heart, no matter how cheesy. "Alright Dr. Phil, I'll remember that," She joked.

He rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. "Oh very funny, I'm only trying to help," He said as he grabbed Dex's leash from her hand and began to march up the stairs as Sydney's laughter followed behind him.

* * *

**A/N: Please don't hate me! I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. Time just got away from me! Hope you enjoy this chapter, another update again soon! And as always, thank you for your amazing reviews, I love them!  
**


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town  
**

_Chapter 14_

After Syd got back from the walk with Jeff, she was surprised to see her brother still wasn't home. But she took advantage of her alone time and sat on the couch with her laptop, taking her time to roam the internet and look at the celebrity gossip sites, her guilty pleasure. "Hey, what took you so long?" She yelled out when she heard a key in the door moments before the door pushed open.

"Oh, sorry, were you expecting me?" Derrick asked with a grin as he walked in the room.

She smiled up at him. "I thought you were Johnny- he's been gone all day."

"Yeah, I just got off the phone with him. He's like ten minutes away. We're gonna hit the gym," He explained as he walked closer, sitting down next to her on the couch as he tossed his keys onto the coffee table.

"And you decided to come over here even though you knew Johnny wasn't home?" She asked flirtatiously as she set her laptop on the table in front of her, turning her head to look at Derrick.

He smirked. "Well, I knew you'd be here…all alone. My intentions may be questionable,"

She blushed under his gaze and ducked her head. He laughed but moved his face closer to hers. On instinct, she turned her head and their mouths met. They moaned almost in unison as they deepened the kiss. After a couple minutes, Sydney put her hand on his face and forced herself to pull away. "Johnny will be back soon," She whispered, her eyes still closed in bliss.

He nodded in understanding. "Yeah,"

She pulled her hand away from his face as her eyes opened. "So what are you guys doing tonight?"

He shrugged as he leaned back on the couch. "Probably just hang out, I don't know, maybe hit a bar. Why? You want to join us?"

"Well, actually, I've met this Kaitlyn girl a couple times at the gym. You know her right? She's with FCW." She asked.

Derrick nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know her,"

"Well, she's very friendly and I guess her and some of the girls are going out tonight and she invited me to go with,"

Derrick grimaced as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "Syd…I don't know if that's such a good idea…" He trailed off as he thought about what she said. "Does Johnny know you're talking to her?"

She narrowed her eyes, feeling out of the loop. "He told me to watch out for her but he didn't say why,"

He chewed his lip as he looked at her curious face. "Well, maybe you should just listen to your brother on this one. She's not someone you should be hanging out with,"

She was silent for a second as she took in his uncomfortable body language. "Well, I won't do that unless one of you gives me a reason to stay away from her," She challenged, not willing to allow her brother and his friend to dictate who she could and couldn't hang out with.

He shrugged. "Unfortunately, I'm not going to do that. This has more to do with Johnny than me," He said, not feeling right about sharing his friends' secrets, even to his sister.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Ok then," She said as she turned her attention back to her laptop.

A few seconds later, the painful silence finally ended when Johnny walked in. Hmm, he noted, Derrick is here again, alone with his sister. "Hey guys," He greeted. "Sorry it took me so long. Had to get some business casual clothes for the road and of course I had to go to like five different JCPenney's to find what I needed," He said in annoyance.

Syd laughed. "No, I'm sorry, I hate when that happens,"

Johnny nodded in agreement and turned his attention to Derrick. "Let me change real fast and we can go to the gym,"

"No problamo," Derrick commented casually. Once Johnny had closed the door to his room so he could change in peace, Derrick turned to Syd. "So, you mad at me?"

She let out a sigh and she turned to face him. "No, I'm frustrated. I'd just like to be in the loop a bit,"

He gave her a smile as he leaned closer, pressing a kiss to her lips. "I'm sure he'll tell you soon, be patient,"

"Yeah easy for you to say, you know the secret," She whined.

He laughed as he smoothed his hand over her hair. "True,"

They were both silent for a few seconds as he continued to stroke her hair. "So…how's Tabatha?" She couldn't resist asking.

He let out a long sigh as he looked her in the eye. "You're really going to ask me that?" He asked, not wanting Tabs to come in the middle of his alone time with Syd.

She shrugged. "Well, I mean, she is your girlfriend," She pointed out.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah…she is," He said as he removed his hand from her hair and scoot over a little bit. Ok, she thought to herself, wrong thing to say. She was about to speak up and apologize for even bringing it up but Johnny exited his bedroom.

"Hey, ready?" He asked his friend.

Derrick stood up, turning his back to Syd. "Yup," Great, Syd thought, obviously she'd upset him.

* * *

"You're going out with who?" Johnny asked his sister in outrage as he stood in the doorjamb of the bathroom where his sister was standing in front of the mirror curling her hair.

"Kaitlyn and some of the other girls from FCW," She said once again; she'd only repeated herself like three times. "Johnny, stop being so dramatic,"

"I thought I told you to be more cautious with her," He shook his head, not liking this. "Syd, I know I said I wouldn't tell you who you can and can't be friends with but I forbid you from going out with her,"

She laughed as she turned to face her brother. She very lightly clapped him on the cheek twice. "Seriously, J, you are overreacting,"

He clenched his teeth as he took a couple deep breaths. "Syd…I…you just have to trust me on this,"

"Why?" She asked with her hands on her hips. "If you can give me one reason that you don't want me to go out with her then please tell me and I won't go,"

Damn, he thought to himself. He didn't want to tell her, it was embarrassing. "Listen, I used to be...friends with her and she is just…she's crazy and not someone you should be friends with."

She considered what he said before shaking her head. "Sorry Johnny, I'm still going," She saw him about to speak again. "But, if you want to come with, if that will make you feel better, then I am cool with that," She just wanted to hang out with some girls! She wanted friends!

He didn't feel like going out tonight but he would to ensure his sister wasn't brainwashed. "Ok…ok, I'll do that. I'll call Derrick and some of the boys to come too," He said before leaving the bathroom. Great, she rolled her eyes, Derrick had been upset with her earlier, she didn't need him bringing down her night.

* * *

**A/N: Woohoo! So proud of myself for getting this chapter up so quickly, but considering that ridiculously long time I made you guys wait last time and how patient you were with me, I knew I had to get this up soon! Thanks so much for your amazing reviews, they brighten my day! Oh, and to clear something up Kaitlin is meant to be Kaitlyn from WWE, totally meant to tell you guys this earlier but it slipped my mind, so thanks to the one particular reviewer who asked because I probably never would have remembered to explain that otherwise lol. (Oh and I definitely didn't realize she spells her name Kaitlyn so if you see I changed the way I spell her name, she's the same person I have been referring to, just using the correct spelling now.) And lastly, sorry this chapter is so short! Just setting up for the next.  
**


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town  
**

_Chapter 15_

Later that night Sydney walked into the crowded club with her brother in tow behind her. She had tried to talk her brother out of coming along but to no avail; he for whatever reason just did not want her to go alone. Almost immediately after entering the club, her eyes zeroed on Derrick despite the dark lighting and huge amounts of people buzzing around. He looked good tonight too in jeans and a charcoal gray button up. She pasted a smile on her face and turned to her brother. "Hey, there are you friends," She said pointing to where Derrick, Trent and some of Johnny's other friends were sitting around, talking. She loved her brother but tonight she just wanted to have some girl time with Kaitlyn and her friends.

Johnny nodded indicating that he saw them too. "I'll help you find the girls first," He said as his eyes began searching the club.

"Johnny," She said in an impatient tone. "I can find them myself, you go have fun," She said, giving him a slight push toward his friends. He looked skeptical at first before nodding and walking away. "Ok," She mumbled to herself, glad she didn't have to worry about her brother staying by her side all night. She weaved her way through the crowd, ignoring a couple of cat calls that were thrown in her direction, as she tried to find Kaitlyn. As she got closer to the bar she saw the familiar dirty blonde hair surround by a group of all equally attractive women.

Syd made her way over and Kaitlyn turned her head as she got closer and smiled, waving her over. "Hey, I was starting to wonder if you were going to show!" The woman said as she pulled Syd into a hug.

Syd laughed as she hugged her back. "Hey, sorry! Johnny insisted on being a protective big brother tonight," She explained.

"Oh?" Kaitlyn said curiously. "He didn't want you to come?"

Not even a bit, Syd thought to herself but she couldn't very well tell this sweet woman that. "Oh no, he just didn't want me to come alone. Like I said, protective," She said, laughing it off.

This piqued Kaitlyn's interest even more. "So, he's…here?" She asked as her eyes roamed around her.

She nodded. "Yeah with some of the boys,"

The other woman nodded as she took a sip from her drink. "We'll have to go over and say hi later," She said before grinning at the woman. "Alright, introductions," She said as she brought Syd closer to her group of friends. "Girls, this is Sydney, Johnny's little sister. Sydney this is Naomi, AJ, Maxine and Aksana," She said as she made introductions.

"You can call me Syd," She said with a smile as she struggled to remember who was who.

"Oh hey, how rude of me!" Kaitlyn said to Syd. "Let me buy you a drink,"

Syd scrunched up her face as she remembered her last experience with alcohol. "Actually probably going to lay off the alcohol tonight. I'll take a diet coke,"

"You got it," She said as she turned to the bartender ordering the two of them drinks. After their drinks were set in front of them the girls stood around chatting to get to know each other better.

Once they were all for the most part done with their drinks, AJ proclaimed excitedly, "Let's dance ladies!" She led the group out onto the dance floor, Syd bringing up the end behind Kaitlyn.

* * *

"So, I'm assuming you haven't told her yet…" Trent said to Johnny as they all watched Syd and the group of girls make their way onto the dance floor.

Johnny turned to his friend. "Told who what?" He played stupid as he took a swig from the beer bottle his friends had got for him.

Trent rolled his eyes. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You haven't told your sister about Kaitlyn?"

Johnny turned his attention back to the girls and he let out a breath as he saw his sister throw her head back in laughter at something Kaitlyn said to her. "Not yet,"

"I don't know what you're waiting for man. She's nothing but trouble, you don't want Syd mixed up in that," Derrick added in his two cents. He was actually proud of himself that he was able to speak in a normal tone of voice; every time he saw a guy approach Syd he wanted to run over there and beat the guy down.

"It's not that simple. How do you guys suppose I tell Syd?" Johnny asked.

"Uh, here's an idea," Trent spoke up. "How about, 'hey sis, you know that girl you're becoming friends with? Well we used to date' ?"

"'And then, not only did she cheat on me with someone on the main roster, but when I started dating someone else she flipped out, acted like I was cheating on her, and then threw a rock through my car window'." Derrick added, taking the story from where Trent left off.

" 'And then-'" Trent continued but was cut off.

"Ok, that's enough," Johnny snapped, not wanting to talk about his disastrous relationship with Kaitlyn. "Let's not talk about this," He said angrily.

Trent threw his hands up in defense. "Hey man, just trying to help you out. You know your sister wouldn't want to be friends with her if she knew the truth," Johnny glared at his friend, reminding him that he didn't want to talk about it. "Alright, alright. I'm going to go over there and say hi, try to pull her away from the crazy bitch," Trent said before making his way onto the dance floor.

Derrick watched his friend walk away with a frown. Why couldn't he have done the saving? He continued watching as Syd's face broke out in a grin when she saw Trent approach her. And hey, why was she so happy to see him? Derrick looked over and saw that Johnny was watching the exchange as well. "Hey, how do you feel about that?" He asked nonchalantly.

"About what?" Johnny asked, confused.

"Trent and Syd," He answered.

Johnny watched the pair as his friend swept his sister into his arms and twirled her around a couple times to the music. "They get along pretty well,"

Derrick rolled his eyes. "You're not worried he's going to make the moves on your sister?"

Johnny finally faced his friend, a surprised expression on his face. "Who? Trent?" Derrick nodded and Johnny laughed. "Dude, seriously? No way, Trent's harmless."

Dammit, he was right, Trent is harmless. But as Derrick looked back and saw Syd's arms wrapped tight around the man he got a jealous feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I don't know, they look pretty cozy,"

Johnny shook his head. "It's just flirting, besides, Trent knows the rules, no way would he go after my sister," He commented as he stood up. "I'm gonna get another drink, you want one?"

"Nah, I'm good," Derrick said as he processed what his friend said. _No way would he go after my sister._ The damn bro code or whatever, shit. Why couldn't things just be simple for once?

* * *

"Alright Little Curtis, what are you drinking?" Trent asked a half hour later as they took a seat at the bar. He had been eager to pull Syd away from Kaitlyn and her little cronies but it had been tough. Trent had a feeling Kaitlyn knew Johnny and his friends were going to try to dissuade their impending friendship and she wasn't giving up without a fight. The main thing he was wondering though was why she wanted to be friends with Syd in the first place.

She smiled. "Nothing for me,"

"Aw what, why? You were fun the other night," Trent commented.

She laughed. "Yeah, too fun. I pretty much met my yearly quota for how much alcohol I can have just in that one night."

He pouted. "Come on, just one drink? It's on me,"

She rolled her eyes at his pout and eventually nodded. "Alright, fine, you win,"

He grinned as he waved the bartender over and ordered himself a beer and Syd a martini. "So I have to say my feelings were hurt earlier,"

She frowned in confusion. "Why?"

"When you and Johnny got here you didn't even come over and say hello," He commented as their drinks were placed in front of them and he slid over a bill to the bartender. "That doesn't have anything to do with Derrick, does it?"

Syd froze mid drink as she looked over at him. He seemed unaffected by his comment as he watched the dance floor. Could he know about her and Derrick? But how? "Uh…Derrick?"

He looked over at her and nodded. "Yeah…you know at the arena the other day he kinda freaked out on us in the ring,"

She visibly relaxed. "Oh, that, right. Uh, yeah, we talked about it and he's just going through some things with Tabatha," She said as she took a sip of her drink.

He nodded. "Yeah, I figured; they're a interesting couple those two," He mused as he took a sip of his beer. "So if Derrick wasn't the reason for you dissing our table then what was?"

She laughed a little at his mock hurt. "Nothing personal," She said patting his shoulder. "I was running late and I didn't want Kaitlyn and the girls to think I was a no show,"

He nodded. "I see and are you girls getting along?"

She could tell that just like Derrick and her brother, Trent wasn't a big fan of Kaitlyn but she appreciated the fact that he seemed to be letting her make her own decisions, rather than make some 'it's your choice but listen to me' comment. "Yeah, so far, they're fun."

"Well…" He said with a big grin as he gestured over to where Johnny and Derrick were chatting with some of the guys. "We're fun too, why don't you come over and hang out for a while?"

She looked over and she felt her chest tighten considerably as she saw Derrick's face twisted in laughter. "Yeah, absolutely," She said as she placed her hand in his so he could lead her to the boys.

"Look who I found," Trent announced as they reached the table, his hand dropping hers to allow her to sit down in the available seat next to her brother.

"Hey guys," Syd said with a wide smile as she waved to everyone seated around her.

"Well look who finally decided to join us," Brett DiBiase said with a playful smile.

"Sorry boys, I'm trying to make friends!" She saw Wade Barrett open his mouth to speak but she cut him off. "Of the girl variety," They chuckled before bringing Syd into their conversation. She couldn't help but notice how quiet Derrick was or if he did speak it wasn't to her. She had been hoping he still wasn't upset with her about their earlier conversation when she brought up Tabatha but obviously she was wrong.

"Hi boys," A female voice said twenty minutes later, interrupting the conversation. Everyone turned to look at her and a lot of backs stiffened at the sight of Kaitlyn standing with a smile and a confident hand on her hip.

"Hey Kaitlyn," Trent said to break the awkward silence. Syd glanced over and saw her brother playing with his phone, obviously trying his hardest to not have to look at the woman.

"How is everyone?" She asked as she looked over at Johnny. "Johnny?"

He looked up faking a smile. "Hi, um, Syd, I'm ready to go, you coming with?" He asked as he stood up, pulling on his leather jacket.

She looked over at Kaitlyn before looking back at her brother. "Yeah, sure, let's go," She said, not wanting her brother to be in an uncomfortable situation.

"See you guys later," Johnny said as Sydney stood up and offered everyone a wave.

"Hey, thanks for inviting me," She said to Kaitlyn as they walked by. She could feel her brother's frustrated presence behind her, obviously wanting to get away from this woman, but she had to at least thank her and say bye. "Tell the other girls I had fun tonight,"

Kaitlyn smiled. "Absolutely, I'll call you later, maybe we can get lunch or something soon," Syd nodded and Kaitlyn turned to the woman's brother. "Bye Johnny," She looked like she was going to reach out to touch him but Johnny danced around her. Okkkaaayyy, Syd thought to herself as she quickly tried to catch up to her brother, obviously there was some serious history between those two, no way would her brother, one of the nicest guys on the planet, treat someone like that unless something happened. Now the question was what exactly.

* * *

**A/N: Tried to get this up earlier this week but things have been crazy lately! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. love, love love your reviews, let me know what you think! More Derrick and Sydney next chapter, promise!  
**


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town**

_Chapter 16_

Sydney woke up ridiculously early for someone who had been out late the night before. By six thirty she was out the door after having a small breakfast and leaving her brother a note to let him know she took his car and was at the gym. She hadn't been able to sleep much the night before; her thoughts consumed with whatever dynamic there was between Johnny and Kaitlyn as well as what the hell she was doing with Derrick. She really liked the guy…a lot, but he had a girlfriend! How was she supposed to compete with that? She hoped she would see him soon but she wasn't sure that would happen considering the boys were leaving later in the day to travel with the main roster and do their NXT tapings.

Syd spent a good portion of her time at the gym on the treadmill running at a high incline at a pretty consistent fast pace. She wasn't really sure why but she'd always been a cardio girl; there was nothing like running off your extra calories. Once she was ready to move on to some free weights she took a swig from her water bottle and used her towel to wipe the sweat off her face as she maneuvered around the different array of machines. After she cooled down and was breathing normally, she completed several sets of bicep curls before making her way to the back to go wash her face in the bathroom.

She let out a little shriek as a hand closed around her wrist and she was yanked into one of the several changing rooms the gym had available. She spun around in surprise as she saw Derrick standing across from her. "Derrick? What the hell?" She asked.

He didn't answer. Instead he took one step closer to her, which brought him pretty much right against her, and sealed his lips to hers. He let out a groan, as if they hadn't kissed in months, when really it had only been less than 24 hours. "Sorry, I just saw you out there looking sexy and I had to kiss you," He apologized in a sensual whisper against her lips.

Damn, could you fault a man for that? She closed her eyes and pressed her lips back to his, enjoying the feeling. His hands slid under her butt and hoisted her up as he took a couple steps backward to sit down on the small corner seat that was in the small dressing room. After she was sitting on his lap and the kiss deepened, she moaned loudly into his mouth. Derrick pulled away with a small laugh before saying, "Shhh,". Damn, that's right, they were in a public place, albeit sheltered away from the eyes of the people, but still at the gym nonetheless. His hands caressed her sides as if he had been practicing massage for years, which resulted in her only further pushing herself closer to him. She allowed her hands to sneak underneath his gray sweat-soaked t-shirt and she dragged her fingernails up and down the skin in an agonizingly slow rhythm that had Derrick panting as he dragged his lips away from hers.

She let out a small laugh as their lust slowly subsided and she wrapped her arms around his neck as her head fell onto his strong shoulder. "Hello," She greeted him properly.

"Good morning," He said as he subconsciously rubbing his hands up and down her back soothingly.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" She asked, sitting back so she could see his face.

He grinned as he lifted a challenging eyebrow. "You were trying to make me jealous last night." It was a statement, not a question.

"I was?" She asked, having no knowledge of this.

"Dancing with Trent," He reminded her as he kissed the inside of her neck. "Not acknowledging me," He punctuated with another kiss to her neck.

"You didn't acknowledge me either buddy," She defended. "And I wasn't dancing with Trent to make you jealous; he's just a friend. But that's cute that you were jealous," She said with a grin.

"Shoot, a pretty girl like you? Who wouldn't be jealous?" He questioned sweetly, melting her heart.

She let out a dreamy sigh the same time that her brain remembered their last talk where she'd upset him. "Listen…about yesterday when I brought up Tabatha…" She started and watched as he let out a long breath and leaned back against the wall. "I wasn't trying to start anything or make you feel bad…I was just reminding you that this is real and that you do have a girlfriend. This whole thing is new to me, you know? Believe me when I say I am not that girl that hooks up with a guy that is taken," She explained, though mentally she reminded herself that she actually was that girl at the moment.

"Of course not! And you know that I am not the kind of guy who cheats on his girlfriend right? I mean, I've always been a pretty loyal boyfriend and I feel like shit that I'm doing this." He said. Syd nodded, her head turning away. "Shit..." He exclaimed as he realized his mistake. "No Syd, I didn't mean it like that." He said as he used his hand to turn her chin toward him. "Listen…even though Tabatha and I are having problems, she doesn't deserve to be cheated on…no one does. But I can't deny my feelings for you,"

She smiled slightly at his words. "I understand what you're saying. And that's what I was trying to say last night. Even though we care about each other and are having fun, there is still another person in this…relationship," She said for lack of a better word.

"I know…this is a pretty messed up situation," He said running a hand over his face.

"It is," She agreed. They sat there for a minute before she stood up. "Well, I better get going. Johnny's probably awake by now and he's probably got some errands to run before you guys leave later,"

Derrick let out a sigh as he stood up, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I wish you could come with," He whispered in her ear as he kissed the spot right below her lobe.

Well, that was an idea. "Maybe next time," She said with a smile as she pressed a kiss to his lips. Of course Derrick couldn't let that opportunity go by without deepening the kiss to the point where Syd's knees went weak. He pulled away, a knowing smirk on her face. "Damn, you're good at that," She whispered, her eyes still closed.

He chuckled as he gave her a little tap on the ass. "More where that came from toots,"

She opened her eyes and smiled before giving him a little wave and opening the door.

* * *

Kaitlyn watched Sydney leave the dressing room, momentarily fixing her slightly mussed clothes, closing the door behind her. A minute later, Derrick emerged and, after checking both ways to see if he was being watched, left the same room with a slight pep in his step and a smile gracing his lips.

Kailtyn smiled as she turned around, looking down at the stopped video recording on her phone. She'd been more than a little suspicious when she'd seen Derrick walk into the dressing room, pulling Sydney in with him only a few minutes later. She had tried to tell herself that it was nothing but she liked to be prepared and as she played back the video footage of her ex's best friend and sister's post-rendezvous in the gym changing rooms, she knew this was something she could use in the future.

* * *

"-promise, everything is fine," Sydney heard her brother say as she walked into the apartment after the gym. "Mom, I've really got to go though, my flight leaves in just a few hours and I still have to go pick up my dry cleaning-" He started listing but instantly let out a sigh of relief when he saw Syd walk into the room, dropping her bag and kicking her shoes off by the door. "Hold on, Sydney just walked in, let me give her the phone." He walked over to his sister and rolled his eyes at whatever his mother was saying on the other end. "I love you too mom...yes, really…ok, I'll call you in a couple days. Here's Syd," He said. He put his hand over the bottom part of the phone so his mom couldn't hear. "Good luck, she is in protective mom mode today," He whispered as he handed over the phone to his sister, accepting the car keys she passed him. "Be back in like forty-five minutes,"

Syd took a deep breath before bringing the phone up to her ear. "Hi mom! How are you?" She asked, sitting on the couch as her brother left the apartment to run some errands.

"Oh I am great dear, how is my favorite daughter?" She asked excitedly.

"Mom, I'm your only daughter," Syd reminded her as she pulled her feet under her.

"Well that doesn't mean a thing, your still my favorite," She defended.

She chuckled a little, knowing she wasn't going to win that one. "Well, I'm doing really good actually," She said as she launched into a full rundown of her life in Tampa. Of course she left out the little tidbits of her and Johnny's taken friend hooking up, but otherwise she clued her mother in on her experience watching Johnny wrestle at FCW, her making friends with Kaitlyn, and her also becoming friends with Jeff and resident dog walker of Dex.

"Oh that's wonderful Sydney, I'm so happy you are enjoying spending time with your brother." Her mom said.

"Me too mom, it's really great." She paused, knowing she was going to have to broach the subject of Garrett sooner or later. "Mom, Johnny told me about Garrett's visit…"

Her mother let out a long, distressed sigh. "I asked him not to,"

"Well I'm glad he did." She said sternly. "Mom, you should tell me these things. I don't want him bothering you; I'll call him and straighten things out."

"Which is precisely the reason I did not want to tell you!" Her mother exclaimed, surprising Sydney. "You are in such a good place right now, this is exactly the thing this boy wants to happen. He wants you to get in touch with him so he can put you under his spell again. One phone call, one visit is all it can take for your relationship to restart." She was obviously in anguish about this whole situation.

Syd sighed. "Mom, trust me when I say one phone call is not going to get me back with that man,"

"As a mother, I cannot take that chance," Her mom said in an end-of-discussion tone.

Syd bit her lip. "Fine, I won't call him. But if he comes by again, I need you to tell me. Has he been by since?"

"No and I'm sure he won't be back," She said positively.

"Oh mom, I hope you're telling me the truth. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you," Syd said emotionally.

"And I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I allowed that…animal back in my daughter's life," She countered.

Syd couldn't help but chuckle. "Damn mom, you're on your game tonight,"

Her mom chuckled on the other end. "I am, aren't I?"

* * *

Derrick heard a knock on his door twenty minutes before he had to leave for the airport. He had, as usual, waited to the last minute to start his packing and now he was struggling to get it all finished in time without forgetting something important, like, oh say his trunks, he thought to himself as he remembered on his way to answering the door he had almost forgot his work uniform.

He pulled open the door and his face shifted in surprise. "Tabatha," He said. He had invited her over to come see him before he had to leave…of course that had been over two hours ago and he was convinced she wasn't going to show.

"Hi," She said with a breezy smile, obviously not effected by his shock. "Sorry I'm late, I stopped by the mall on my way over and got a little carried away," She said with a laugh as she planted a kiss on his cheek as she walked by on her way inside.

He rolled his eyes as he closed the door. "Well, I've only got…" He trailed off as he looked down at his watch. "fourteen minutes until Johnny's picking me up,"

Her face contorted in a pout. "That's it?" She asked as she followed him to his room where his suitcase was sitting on the bed, half full.

"Well I had two free hours when I invited you over," He said as he grabbed his trunks while they were still on his mind, putting them in his carry on.

Her pout deepened as she sat on the bed, her back against the headboard. "You should have told me, I would have hurried over,"

He looked at her and nodded inwardly. Yep, that's your girlfriend buddy. You picked a winner. "Well, I did say my flight leaves at 12:45," He explained as he walked over to his closet to gather his socks and underwear.

"P.M.? or A.M.? You never specified." She defended.

"Oh for Christ sake Tabatha!" He exclaimed as he threw his socks angrily into his suitcase.

"Derrick," She warned her voice neutral. "Why are you yelling?"

He shook his head as he walked back over to his closet for shirts. "Because I wanted to spend time with my girlfriend before I leave for four days but she'd rather go shopping! And now it's my fault because she never does anything wrong!" He ranted, all without looking at her.

She let out a sigh of sympathy. "Oh Derrick…I had no idea you felt so neglected," She said as she stood up and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.

He stiffened at first as Sydney's beautiful face instantly popped into his head. But he relaxed and turned around in her arms, wrapping his arms tighter around her in the process. Though it wasn't neglect he was feeling with his girlfriend, it was impatience and realization that their relationship pretty much sucked. But he wanted to leave on a good note and not in a fight like last time. She looked up at him and he looked down at her, his lips instantly pressing into hers. She responded, her hand cradling his head as his large hands rested on her hips. He could tell she was throwing everything into this kiss, trying to make him feel loved but he really didn't feel anything. He felt like a dick for thinking it but all he could think about was that he'd rather be kissing Sydney. Tabatha pulled away slowly, placing a couple extra pecks on his lips as she moved her face away. She rubbed her hand over his cheek and gazed lovingly into his eyes. "I'll miss you baby,"

"I'll miss you too," He said automatically, because really, what else could he say?

* * *

**A/N: Goodness, goodness, goodness people, i know i say this a lot, but please don't hate me! lol I have literally been sick for over a week; I hadn't been able to eat anything since last Tuesday, thankfully i'm getting over the virus i had, but because of that i was so dizzy and just so tired that i haven't felt like doing much other than sleep, so i haven't really had the energy to type anything up. My brain was working however so i had the chapter all in my head, i just couldn't write it down. Loved your reviews from last chapter, thank you so much for those and of course for simply reading this story! Hope you enjoy this chapter. :)  
**


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town**

_Chapter 17_

The next day, with both Johnny and Derrick as well as her new friend Kaitlyn, on the road with NXT and smackdown, Sydney went across the hall to go on a walk with Jeff and Dex so they could get out of their apartments and enjoy the beautiful weather. "Oh isn't it just a gorgeous day?" Sydney asked as she parked the car just a few blocks away from the beach.

Jeff nodded as he got out of the car, waiting for Syd to get Dex out of the backseat and join him on the sidewalk. "I wish I put on sunscreen," He grumbled slightly.

"Oh please," Syd said, hooking her arm with his as they walked toward the beach. "you're wearing pants and long sleeves!" She reminded him.

"It's my face I'm worried about," He corrected.

She smiled; the man couldn't help himself, there always had to be something to wrong, but she didn't mind at all, she found him very amusing and underneath all that grumbling was a sweet man. "Well, I think I saw a baseball cap in the backseat, want me to go get it?"

"Oh we're too far away now," He complained. They walked in silence to the beach, both of them, even though Jeff wouldn't admit it, enjoyed the heat of the sun as they watched Dex zig zag across the sidewalk, eager to not miss a single smell, occasionally giving his leash a little extra tug to get ahead.

Once they reached the beach that was practically deserted, which was to be expected in the middle of the day on a Monday in January, Syd let Dex off his leash and immediately the dog was off, running toward the water.

"Jeff, please answer me this," Syd said as she and the older man started walking in the direction Dex had shot off to. "How are we not at the beach every day? We live like five minutes away,"

He gave a short chuckle as Dex ran excited circles around them, stick in mouth. Syd grabbed the stick and threw it back into the water resulting in the dog running after it. "Sure we've caught a couple hours of sun but it is January my dear, not ideal beach season,"

She nodded at his logic and then pointed to a bikini clad woman lying on a beach towel, a large brimmed hat blocking the sun from her face. "That girl has the right idea,"

"Not if it starts to downpour in a couple minutes," Jeff countered. Syd laughed and they watched as Dex ran full speed toward them, getting dangerously close to the woman sunbathing, kicking sand up on her in the process.

"Uh-oh," Syd mumbled as she saw the woman sit up slowly and look at her now sand covered skin. "Boy," She said in a baby voice to Dex. "You gotta be more careful," His tail wagged double time as he licked her hand before she grabbed his collar to keep him close. Once they were standing close to the woman's back, Sydney spoke. "Sorry about that, Dex here was just very excited to be at the beach."

The woman turned around, a scowl instantly coming to her face. Oh shit, Syd mumbled to herself, really? This was just her luck. "Sydney." Tabatha practically growled as she stood up, brushing the sand off of herself in the process. "You should really keep your dog on a leash," She spat.

She forced a smile as she made a big show off hooking Dex up to his leash. "Again sorry," She looked over at Jeff who seemed to be very confused why this lady was making such a big deal out of a little sand. "Oh do you two know each other?" Jeff shook his head. "Tabatha this is Johnny's neighbor Jeff. Jeff, this is Tabatha, Derricks…girlfriend," She had trouble admitting that the man she was developing a…for lack of a better word, thing with, was in a relationship with this woman.

Jeff seemed surprised at that. "Oh, well, hello, nice to meet you. Derrick's a great kid," He said as he extended his hand for her to shake. She responded with a weak two second shake to which Syd rolled her eyes.

"He is," Tabatha said simple. "I need to get back to my tan but like I said, keep the dog on a leash," She said before sitting back down, pulling her hat over her face.

Syd pulled Jeff and Dex away, letting out a strangled breath when they were far enough away. "That woman is a witch with a B," She said, not wanting to curse in front of her elder.

"She really is a bitch isn't she?" Jeff agreed.

"Jeff!" She exclaimed with a surprised laugh.

"What? You think I don't curse?" He gave a snort of disbelief. "Please, I'm a seventy year old man," She chuckled as they started walking back toward the car. "But, you know, if I'm going to be honest, I was kind of shocked when you said that woman was Derrick's girlfriend."

She nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean, if you ask me, they don't really work well together,"

"Well, yes, but I actually thought you and Derrick were dating," He mused aloud.

Her cheeks blazed as all her intimate moments with Derrick flashed through her mind. "Oh, really?" She squeaked out. She thought she would be ok with lying to people about her feelings for Derrick but when practically asked directly, she found it difficult.

Jeff, of course, noticed her discomfort. "Oh Sydney…" He said in a skeptical, disappointed tone.

She let out a breath, knowing she'd have to just fess up or he would never forget this. "It just kind of happened…" She filled him in on their past interactions and their kind of, sort of relationship. "I don't know, I care for him and I think he cares for me, plus he has told me numerous times that his relationship with Tabatha is basically over,"

He was quiet for a minute as he took it all in. "I just hope you know what you are doing,"

She frowned. "I don't,"

"Well, you'll just have to figure it out. Listen, Sydney, let me just give you a few words of wisdom. If Derrick is worth all the confusion and secrecy, then things will work themselves out…but if you feel disappointed in yourself and your actions, then you have to ask yourself what your relationship with him will grow from."

She was silent the rest of the walk to the car and the drive home. The thing was, she was disappointed in herself, not of her feelings for Derrick but of how things have played out. She was also disappointed that he had a girlfriend, and not just any girlfriend, but a girlfriend who was just so incredibly wrong for him it wasn't funny. She definitely thought Derrick was worth all the confusion and secrecy, she just hoped he felt the same way.

* * *

Johnny walked down the hall in the arena and ran an anxious hand through his hair. This was really the last thing he wanted to do but he had failed to protect his sister once, he couldn't live with himself if he failed again.

Once he reached the women's locker room, he raised his hand and gave the door two firm knocks. Moments later it swung open to reveal a smiling Natalya. "Hey Johnny, how are you?" She asked, her voice full of honest sincerity and friendship.

Johnny couldn't help but smile back. "Hey, I'm good. And you?"

"Oh I'm doing great," She answered.

"Listen, is Kaitlyn in there? I need to have a word with her," Johnny explained.

She lifted an eyebrow in surprise as she remembered the history between the two. "Absolutely, I'll tell her you're here," She said before offering a wave and closing the door.

Johnny walked back a couple steps and leaned his back against the wall as he waited for his ex-girlfriend. He looked up when the door opened and a frown appeared on his face when he noticed Kaitlyn was smiling wide. What the hell was she so happy about? "Hey,"

"Hey," She said as she walked closer to him. "What's up? Natalya said you wanted to talk?"

He inhaled deeply and then let out a couple of coughs as he inhaled too much of her strong, stinky perfume. She'd obviously just sprayed herself before coming out of the locker room. She reached a hand out and rubbed his back to help him through his coughs but he moved away. "Don't," He said firmly. "Don't touch me." She raised a surprised eyebrow at his outburst. "Kaitlyn, listen, the only reason I am here talking to you is because I want you to leave Sydney alone."

She frowned. "Why?"

"You know why…I don't want you to poison my little sister," He said a little harshly.

She scoffed. "Please, poison her? You are ridiculous."

"Kaitlyn, I'm not going to argue with you about this, I just wanted to ask you to leave her alone before I have to tell about our history," He said, gesturing between the two of them.

She gave a little laugh. "Oh I see, so you want me to be the bad guy,"

He rolled his eyes and ran a hand over his face. "I don't want to tell Syd about what a crazy bitch you are, I really don't, but if you keep hanging out with her then I'll have no choice." He said as he gave her one final warning glare before walking away.

Kaitlyn pressed her lips together in thought as she watched him walk away. Well sure he may not want his sister to be friends with her but Syd seemed to like her and she wasn't just going to drop her cause Johnny says so. No way. She walked into the locker room, ignoring all the mindless chatter around her as she walked to her bag. She pulled her phone out, put it on silent and watched the little video she'd recorded yesterday of Derrick and Sydney's compromising dressing room exit. Kaitlyn smiled to herself. She could definitely use this to her advantage. She just had to figure out how and when.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you guys, as always, for reading and reviewing, i really appreciate it. And also, thanks for your patience, i know it's taking me a while to update but thanks for sticking with me. :)  
**


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town**

_Chapter 18_

"Mmm, I missed you," Derrick said against Sydney's lips as they sat on Johnny's couch while he was in the shower. The boys had gotten home only an hour ago and after eating dinner, Johnny claimed exhaustion as hopped in the shower before bed and the two love birds had nested on the couch to get some alone time together.

Syd smiled against his lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I missed you too,"

"I missed kissing you," He hummed as he kissed his way from her mouth to her neck.

"I missed touching you," She said with a giggle as she demonstrated by running her hands over his chest and abdominals.

He growled low in his throat and used his hands on her hips to lift her onto his lap. "I missed your face," He countered back

She laughed as she pressed her lips to his. "I missed your hair," She moaned as he instantly deepened the kiss, running his tongue over her lips, begging for entrance. Their tongues dueled for dominance resulting in several moans and groans escaping them. Only moments after she felt Derrick's hands inching up her shirt, she distinctly heard the shower shut off. "Mmm, Derrick," She said as she forced herself to pull away. "Johnny," She said as explanation as she reluctantly slid off his lap.

He groaned as he leaned forward securing his lips back on her neck. "You need to get your own apartment," She giggled as she used her hand on his head to massage his scalp as he showered her neck with kisses. "But for now how about you come to my place? You can tell Johnny you're going to see a movie or something,"

"I don't know…" She said, unsure. It was one thing to make out with him while he was over. But it was quite another thing to go over to his apartment and seek out the affection while lying to her brother.

"Aw, come on, why not?" He asked as he pulled back a little to look at her face.

She scrunched up her nose. "I don't know… it'd be weird. I mean, being with you in the same bed and apartment that you and Tabatha do things in,"

He frowned. He didn't like it but he understood. "Fine, but if you reconsider…" She shrugged, indicating that she probably wouldn't. "But just for the record, Tabatha and I haven't done things since you and I started hooking up," He said quietly so Johnny couldn't hear in the other room. "I wouldn't do that to you," He whispered as he pressed a kiss to her lips. "I'll see you tomorrow?" She nodded and smiled softly as he stood up and left.

* * *

Even though Derrick was disappointed on the ride home that Sydney hadn't decided to join him, when he reached his apartment and saw Tabatha waiting outside, he was relieved she had declined.

"Hi," Tabatha said almost shyly as Derrick got closer to her.

He nodded his head at her in greeting as he hitched his gym bag higher on his shoulder and pulled his suitcase to a stop next to him. "I thought you had a shoot in New York,"

She nodded. "I did earlier in the day but I decided to get a flight home tonight instead of waiting for tomorrow." She looked at his suitcase. "You just get back?"

"Yup," He said as he put his key in his door, twisting the knob open as he gestured for her to go in first. "Stopped by Johnny's to eat dinner after we landed," He said as he closed his door behind him and set his bags down near the door. She nodded her head slowly as she perched herself on the edge of the couch. Obviously she understood that Sydney had been at Johnny's but she didn't mention it. "So what's up?" Derrick asked as he sat down next to her, slapping his hands on his knees to get the conversation started. "You're not usually waiting for me at my door,"

"Right...right…" She trailed off as she collected her thoughts. "Listen, I've just been thinking a lot about what you said the other day." He nodded, telling her to continue. "And I get it. I'm sorry I've been this self-involved person who expects everything to happen on my schedule. I realize that we both have crazy schedules for work and I think we should work on that." She paused and hesitantly reached for his hands. "Derrick…I just…I realize we've been having some problems lately and I want to work them out, I don't want this to continue and then one day we both realize we aren't happy," Too late, Derrick thought to himself. "I can try harder if you try harder. I really want this to work…I love you," She said, looking longingly into his eyes as she moved one hand up to cup his cheek.

Well shit. No matter what he did, he was going to feel like a dick. Kiss her and tell her he'll try and he's basically lying to her face, knowing nothing is going to ever work out between them. Or tell her that things won't work out and he's basically breaking her heart. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Derrick did the first thing that came to his mind; he took the easy route. "I love you too baby," He said before leaning forward and kissing her lips.

* * *

"Oh my god," Syd said through her hysterical laughter the next day. "You look ridiculous," She said to Derrick. He had called her in the morning and told her to get dressed, that he was taking her out for the day. Not one to protest, she pulled on a pair of white denim shorts and a navy blue t-shirt before he picked her up and took her downtown. They were currently in a small costume shop and Derrick was in full 1920's gear consisting of a silver flapper dress, that made his already large stature look bigger, a headband with a black feather sticking out and holding a feather boa. "Wait, let me get my camera," She said with tears in her eyes she was laughing so hard. After grabbing her camera from her purse, she ran back over and snapped a shot as Derrick struck a pose. "Ok, as much as I love that ugly thing on you, you better go change before it rips and you are forced to buy it,"

"Are you saying this dress makes me look fat?" He questioned in a faux insecure tone.

She smiled. "Actually, I never thought I'd be turned on by a man in drag, but...I don't know," She moved her hand in the air up and down, gesturing to what he was wearing. "this is just doing something for me,"

He grinned and sauntered over to her, complete with shaking hips and twirling the ends of the boa in the air. "Well, in that case, maybe I should buy it and wear it for you some other time,"

She threw her head back and laughed. "Save your money. Your sexy in your man clothes,"

"Thank god," He said in a relieved breath. "This fabric is not gentle on my manly skin," He said as he dropped a kiss to her lips before turning around to change back into his regular clothes.

It had been a tough morning for Derrick. Though Tabatha hadn't stayed the night, they'd had sex for hours and he couldn't help but wonder how or if he was going to tell Sydney. She deserved to know but he knew she was going to be so hurt, especially since he had only just recently assured her that nothing had happened between him and his girlfriend since the two had hooked up. Waking up in the morning, Derrick knew the woman he wanted and needed to spend the day with, so he'd immediately picked up his phone and placed a call. It was a tough thing-relationships, and he should know, he was currently in two of them. He knew he would have to tell Syd eventually but not today. Today he wanted to take the time and energy to remind her how fun he was and how much he cared for her.

"Come on you girly girl, I'm hungry!" Sydney yelled as she banged her fist on his dressing room door.

He opened the door, wearing only his black boxer briefs and smiled at her shocked yet lust-filled look. "I forgot to tell you how sexy you look as a cowgirl," He said, gesturing to the cowgirl outfit she had on over her clothes, consisting of a cliché brown vest complete with fringe down the arms, a pair of cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. "Damn sexy," He emphasized with a grin.

She smiled back. "Well thank you, you stud," She said in a terrible fake Texas accent. He finished getting dressed with the door open, because no one else was inside the store, before placing his flapper costume back on its hanger. Sydney quickly pulled off her outfit and placed the separate pieces back where she found them before the two walked out of the store, offering a 'thanks' and 'bye' to the employees who let them goof off.

Sydney let out a loud whoop of laughter as the two walked outside. Derrick grinned as he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her in close as they walked down the street. "That was so fun!" She exclaimed as she threw her own arm around his waist.

"So where to next?" He asked.

Sydney looked up and was about to respond to Derrick when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. Derrick looked at her in confusion. She was facing forward with a look that was half scared and half surprised. He followed her line of sight and saw a man, a pretty large man, standing just a few feet away with a big smile on his face.

"Hey baby, miss me?" The man asked.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for your guys' reviews and continued support, it means a lot to me!**


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town**

_Chapter 19_

"Garrett," Sydney whispered in shock. She blinked up at his smiling face a couple times before clearing her throat. "What, uh, what are you doing here?" She asked as she stepped away from Derrick as subtly as possible, though she felt Derrick's confused and hurt eyes boring into her. She'd have to deal with that later.

"I missed you babe, I wanted to see you," Garrett said, his eyes briefly flicking over to look at Derrick. She resisted rolling her eyes at his answer. What she really wanted to ask was 'how did you find me' but she knew better than to actually say that out loud. "Let's grab some lunch," Garrett suggested, ignoring Derrick's presence completely. Derrick looked the man up and down. The man was a few inches shorter than him with brown hair down to his shoulders and a strong build that told Derrick he knew his way around a gym. This guy may be intimidating to the average man but Derrick knew if necessary, he could take him.

Syd's eyes darted over to Derrick's at her ex's suggestion. "Well we were actually on our way…" She trailed off as she refocused her gaze on Garrett.

Garrett grinned at Derrick, finally acknowledging him. "You don't mind do you? I haven't seen my girlfriend in weeks," Syd bit her tongue to correct his 'girlfriend' statement.

"Funny, I was under the impression that you were broken up," Derrick said, scowling at the man in front of him. He looked over at Syd. "You ok with that?" He asked about being alone with her ex. "Want me to stick around?"

She offered him a light smile and nodded. "I'll be fine, sorry for cutting our day short," She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before moving down the street with Garrett. Derrick's eyes narrowed as her ex smirked at him over the shoulder.

* * *

"You did what?" Johnny exploded as he hopped up from the couch after Derrick walked into the apartment and told him where his sister was. "You left them alone?"

Derrick let out a sigh and shrugged. "She said it was fine. Maybe it's a good thing, looked like they had a lot of shit to work through," Even though he spoke these words he was feeling pretty jealous and hurt that Syd had stepped away from him the moment Garrett showed up and then cut their day short so she could get lunch with her ex.

Johnny groaned as he rubbed his eyes in frustration. He knew if Syd wanted Derrick to know about her past then she would tell him. But he needed his friend to understand the gravity of the situation. "Derrick, why don't you take a seat," He told his friend who complied. "Listen…I probably shouldn't be telling you this," Johnny said as he took a sat himself. "And Syd will probably kill me but…" He trailed off for a second before continuing. "Garrett and I were friends in high school and a few years ago I introduced him to my sister. They hit it off and we all loved them together, they seemed to really love each other. Well, I didn't find out until after my sister left him but apparently Garrett used to slap her around,"

"He hit her?" Derrick asked enraged.

Johnny nodded solemnly. "He was pretty much an asshole all around, physically, mentally and emotionally abusing her whenever any little thing set him off."

"Shit," Derrick murmured, feeling like an idiot. "I can't believe I left them alone,"

"Hey," Johnny said, standing up to slap his friend on the shoulder. "No way you could have known. But let's go get her now. You remember where they were eating?"

Derrick nodded, standing up and following his friend out the door. "Yeah, I waited to see what restaurant they went into before heading over here."

"Good," Johnny said.

* * *

"So how have you been?" Garrett asked with a wide smile after they slid into a booth at a diner.

"Great, I really like it here, it feels like home," Syd admitted.

"Well it's not home," He reminded her. "You look good," He added quickly, not giving her a chance to respond to his first comment.

She smiled tightly. "Thanks,"

He let out a sigh as he reached his hand across the table to cover hers. "Listen, I don't want to beat around the bush. I came here because I want you to come home. With me."

She let out a shaky breath. "That's just not going to happen," She said as firmly as possible.

He lifted an eyebrow. "Oh it's not?" He asked in an angry tone, his fuse already lit after that small comment. "Well I didn't waste my money on a plane ticket out here to come home empty handed."

"I didn't ask you to come here," She said as she yanked her hand out from under his.

His eyes darkened as he leaned forward slightly. "I think moving all the way down here without so much as a goodbye was asking me to come here," He just about growled. "What the hell were you thinking Sydney? So we had a little argument, that doesn't mean you just flee the state,"

She gulped as she leaned back against the back of the booth in an effort to put more distance between them. "Garrett, I didn't move down here until a month after we broke up. You must have been too busy with your new girlfriend to even notice I was gone,"

In an instant Garrett's fist hit the table causing Syd to jump. "God dammit Sydney, don't make me sound like a cheater," He seethed.

"I'm just saying I know you didn't waste any time before moving on after we broke up," She explained, crossing her arms in front of her chest protectively. Right about now she was wishing she hadn't told Derrick to leave- Garrett was capable of anything.

"Jealous?" He questioned with a smirk.

She barely resisted rolling her eyes. "How did you know I was here anyway?" She changed the subject curiously.

He gave a little snort. "Please, whenever something doesn't go your way you're always crying to your brother. I had to do a little research but eventually I found out that he's wrestling out of Tampa. It was pure luck that I found you walking around. No, not luck," He corrected himself. "Fate,"

She let out a breath. He was relentless. "No not fate, luck," She corrected back to his original statement. Lucky for you, she thought to herself, unlucky for me.

"Whatever, listen let's just forget this happened. Let's go pack your things and hop on a flight home, pick up where we left off," He suggested though it was really a demand.

Syd was about to retort but her attention shifted when she saw the door at the other end of the diner open and her brother and Derrick barrel in. "Shit," She mumbled as Johnny looked around momentarily before he focused on Syd and Garrett.

Garrett saw her discomfort and turned around to see what caught her eye. He grinned instantly at the sight of his long-time friend. "Hey man, how you doing? It's been a while, huh?" He asked good naturedly as he stood up, extending his hand for Johnny to shake.

Johnny reared back punched the man square on the jaw. "You son-of-a-bitch," Johnny growled through his teeth. This was the first time he'd seen Garrett since finding out about his abuse towards his sister and he planned on inflicting as much pain as possible without killing the man. "You got a lot of fucking balls showing your face around here," Johnny seethed in the man's face as he fisted his hands in his shirt, using his strength to shove him against the wall.

"Johnny," Syd warned in a quiet voice.

He ignored her and instead reared back again and socked the man in the stomach causing Garrett to gasp in both pain and shock. "Doesn't feel too good does it you prick? You beat up my sister, you make her feel like shit and then you come here trying to act like we're friends?" Johnny asked incredulously. "Fuck you," He snarled hatefully as he landed one more punch across Garrett's face, hearing the crack of his nose at the harsh contact. "Leave my sister alone," He growled menacingly next to the man's ear before he let him drop to the floor. He turned around and immediately wrapped his sister up in his arms.

"Sir," He heard from his side. He knew it had to be someone from the restaurant management telling him most likely to leave or they'd call the cops.

"Don't worry, we're leaving," He said as he led his sister out the restaurant with Derrick following closely behind, leaving Garrett lying on the floor groaning in pain.

* * *

**A/N: Really really sorry guys, it took me way longer to update this than it should have. I really appreciate you sticking with me and reading and reviewing!**


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town**

_Chapter 20_

The car ride home was silent, all three passengers fully involved in their own thoughts. Once Johnny pulled into his parking spot, they all got out of the car. "Hey, I think I'm gonna head home, let you guys talk," Derrick said as he reached into his pocket for his keys.

"You sure?" Sydney asked, silently begging him to stay. She knew Johnny was going to chew her out for agreeing to sit down with Garrett alone so she'd like all the back-up she could find.

Derrick nodded. "Yeah, but, uh, think I can talk to you for a second?" He asked, glancing over at Johnny momentarily, asking his friend for some privacy.

Johnny raised an interested eyebrow before nodding. "Sure, I'll just go upstairs and make us something to eat," He said to his sister. "I'll call you later dude," He said to Derrick before making his way up the stairs toward his apartment.

Once Johnny was outside, the pair slowly walked over to Derrick's car where he leaned against it, looking her over. "You alright?"

She let out a breath before nodding and crossing her arms over her chest. "Yeah, I mean, if I forgot why I left him before then I remember now," She said with a little chuckle as she remembered her ex's aggressive behavior. "I probably should have asked you to stay with me but I just wanted us to have a chance to talk without a third party so we could get everything off our chests,"

He nodded in understanding and reached out to wrap his hand around hers. "Listen, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but Johnny told me about Garrett's abusive past with you,"

She blinked at him and bit her lip. "He did?"

"He didn't want to but he did it so I could understand why leaving you with that guy was such a bad idea,"

She nodded. "No, I mean, I understand I just wish I could have told you first," She took a small step closer to him.

"Why didn't you?" He asked gently out of curiosity, hoping he wasn't being pushy.

She gave him a soft smile. "We only just started up and there's already so much drama between us with your girlfri-" She cut herself off. "with, you know, her…and all and I just didn't think it was that important,"

"Of course it is important," He said, pulling her to him, thankful that Johnny's apartment didn't look out over the parking lot. "I want to know all about you…past, present and future,"

She smiled at his words. "I'd like to do that. And I'm sorry I didn't say anything before,"

"Don't apologize," He said as he leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her lips. "I think you're extremely brave for facing him after the history between you two,"

"I appreciate that," She said as she snuggled up to him, resting her head in the crook of his neck. "I better get upstairs," She regretfully pulled away.

"Alright, I'll call later, maybe we can all go out," Derrick suggested as he opened his car door.

"That'd actually be really great," She said with a smile. They shared one more sweet kiss before Sydney turned around and walked toward the apartment.

* * *

Sydney walked into the apartment and saw her brother sitting on the couch eating half of a turkey and cheese sandwich. He tapped the spot next to him. "Made some lunch," He said pointing to the other half of the sandwich in front of him.

As soon as she sat down and picked up the sandwich her stomach grumbled as if it just remembered how hungry it was when she was supposed to eat almost an hour ago. They chewed in silence until they were done and then Johnny broke the silence. "So that was interesting,"

She couldn't help but burst out in laughter. "Interesting? Seriously J?" She laughed again and he joined in just at her reaction. "Ok, listen." She began, turning her body to face her brother. "I know you're mad that I told Derrick to leave and I put myself in a potentially dangerous position by being alone with Garrett but if he comes back around-"

"He will come back around," Johnny said, cutting her off.

She rolled her eyes, trust her brother to interrupt her. "Ok, when he comes back around, I won't be that stupid. I thought I'd give him a chance to speak his peace and get some closure but he's obviously just the same old guy."

"Did he do anything to you?" Johnny demanded in concern.

"No, he was just being his usual cocky, hostile ass,"

They were quiet for a while as they thought about what had happened that day. "I swear though, I cannot believe that he thought we were just going to be cool after what he did to you,"

Her laughter bubbled over. "Seriously! He's crazy,"

He grinned. "Ok how about I make dinner tonight for the two of us and then I'll call some buddies and we'll go out to the bar, blow off some steam,"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please, don't fool yourself; I am cooking dinner,"

"I was hoping you'd say that," He said before jumping off the couch, dodging the pillow Sydney threw his way,"

* * *

Derrick grabbed his microwave dinner out of the microwave and walked over to his couch which was in front of his big screen TV that currently was playing an old movie. He kept his eyes trained on the TV as he shoveled a forkful of food into his mouth. He immediately let out a girlish squeal as his food burned his mouth. "Sonofabitch," He said the phrase as one word as he swallowed his food and opened his mouth to let it cool off. Almost as soon as he untwisted the top on his water bottle there was a knock on the door. He took a sip of water as he walked to the door and pulled it open. "Tabatha," He said in surprise, not expecting his girlfriend to stop by.

She smiled as she tied the belt around her trench coat tighter. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, of course," He said as he stepped aside for her to come in. "What's up?" He asked as he took another sip of water.

She shrugged as she smiled at him, playing with the ends of coats belt. "Just wanted to see you,"

He wrinkled his brow a little bit; she was acting weird. "Oh, ok cool." He walked over and sat back down on the couch, gesturing for her to join him. He looked down as he shoveled some more food into his mouth, thankful that it was no longer piping hot. "I was just watching a movie if you want…" He trailed off as he looked up, blinking his eyes at his girlfriend. She was now standing right in front of the TV with her hands holding open her coat, showing off the red lacy lingerie underneath. The first thing that came to his mind is that not even ten minutes ago he had made plans to go to a bar with his friends and Sydney. Sydney. God damn, not even 24 hours ago he'd told Syd he hadn't been intimate with Tabatha. _I wouldn't do that to you_, he'd said. And what did he do? He slept with his girlfriend yesterday and now here she was seducing him again.

"Derrick?" Tabatha said in almost a nervous tone as he stared at her blankly.

"Uh, Tabs," He said gently as he walked over to her. He placed his hands over hers on her coat and slowly closed it so her body was once again covered. "I think we need to slow things down a bit. We've been having some issues and I think we need to talk through this stuff otherwise we're going to be one of those couples that just has sex with each other and doesn't talk at all,"

She took a step away from him, almost in anger. "Are you rejecting me?"

"No, Tabby-"

"Dammit Derrick, how many times do I have to ask you to stop calling me that?" She seethed.

Any guilt he'd had before was gone now. "I think you should go,"

She glared at him before angrily stomping out of his apartment.

* * *

Later that night Derrick was patting himself on the back that he'd resisted Tabatha earlier because now he was sitting at the bar flirting with Sydney while her brother and a couple of their friends were off at the pool table playing a game. "What do you mean I'm not going to win NXT?" Derrick asked Sydney in a playfully insulted tone.

She shrugged and took a sip of her wine. "Listen, all I'm saying is it doesn't seem like you have the majority of the fans votes,"

"Unbelievable," He joked. "Can't even count on my girl to have my back,"

She wrinkled her brow. "What'd you say?"

"I can't believe you don't have my back," He repeated.

"No, you called me something…" She said confidently.

He thought back and then swallowed. "My girl," He said in a quieter tone.

She shook her head. "Derrick, don't say things that aren't true, things that can't happen," She said as she focused on the hand she had resting on her wine glass.

"Who says I can't make that happen?" He asked, resting his hand on her knee.

She looked up in surprise. "But…Tabatha?"

He gave her a soft smile as he gently massaged her knee. "I think it's about time things ended,"

"Wow," She said simply, not expecting that.

"Where the hell is he?" They heard someone yell. Both she and Derrick turned their heads when they heard commotion coming from the entrance of the bar. Moments later Tabatha appeared dressed in a hot pink sweat suit, her eyes wildly searching the bar. Almost upon spotting his girlfriend, Derrick removed his hand from Sydney and scooted back a little bit. Once Tabatha's eyes landed on him, he knew he was in trouble. For what, he wasn't sure.

"Tabs," He started as he stood up as she made her way over to him. "What are you-" In an instant her hand reared back and slapped him across the face. Sydney let out a surprised gasp, her hands covering her mouth. He turned to look at Tabatha. "What the hell was that for?"

She ignored him and instead trailed her gaze over to Sydney. Her eyes narrowed as she pulled her arm back again and landed a slap right across Sydney's face. Sydney instantly lifted her hand to her face and saw Derrick making a move to come check on her but he stopped when he heard Tabatha's next words. "That's for fucking my boyfriend, you bitch," She seethed with her hands at her sides, rolled into angry fists. Well shit.

* * *

**A/N: Well guys, it may have taken me almost a month to update but here it is, sorry about that ridiculously long wait.**


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town**

_Chapter 21_

"Tabatha…" Derrick said warningly. After his girlfriend had slapped both himself and, most importantly, Sydney, the entire bar had gone silent and all eyes were on the trio at the bar. "Maybe we should do this someplace else," He said, trying to keep the peace.

She scowled at him. "Oh shut up!" She exclaimed. "You're a piece of shit, you know that?" She asked him hatefully. "All this time I've been expressing my concerns to you about her having feelings for you and you just brushed it aside like I was crazy!" Tabatha let out an angry breath as Derrick guiltily went silent. "Nothing to say, huh? I'm not surprised. And you!" She said turning her attention to Sydney. "I know we didn't get along but how could you sleep with my boyfriend?" She asked disgustedly. "That's so low," She alternated her attention between Syd and Derrick. "Did you guys really think I wouldn't find out?"

"Tabatha…" Syd spoke up hesitantly. "It sorta just happened, we didn't plan on it,"

"Please, I don't want to listen to your excuses you slut," Tabatha said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hey!" Derrick interrupted, putting a hand up in a stop motion. "That's uncalled for. You don't need to be throwing names around."

Tabatha scoffed. "Oh that's cute, you're standing up for you girlfriend." She paused for a second and looked around. "You know, I'm curious what Johnny thinks of you two together," As if Sydney just remembered her brother was in attendance, her head snapped around looking for her brother while Derrick's head just dropped in shame. Tabatha laughed. "Oh you're kidding. He doesn't know? Where is he? I'm sure he'd love to hear all about it," She looked around, knowing he had to be there.

"Tabatha, stop." Derrick demanded. It was bad enough Sydney was being embarrassed like this in front of a bar full of strangers and his coworkers, she didn't need to be lectured by her brother now too.

Her amusement left almost instantly as she glared at Derrick. "I can't even look at you; how could you do this to me?" She asked with tears in her eyes, looking more vulnerable than Derrick had ever seen her, before she stormed out of the bar.

The bar remained silent as Derrick and Sydney glanced at each other.

Seconds later Johnny wove his way through the crowd. "Syd, let's go," He snapped at his sister.

"Johnny, hey, man, let's talk," Derrick suggested.

As if just the sound of his voice was all the provocation he needed, in a second Johnny was in Derrick's face, his hands fisting his friend's shirt. "It's my fucking sister dude. You're sleeping with my sister! You're fucking my sister!" Johnny practically yelled in Derrick's face. He pushed Derrick away as he released his shirt. "My fucking sister jackass," Johnny said with a disappointed and disgusted shake of his head.

"Johnny," Syd said as she inserted herself between the two friends. "He's your friend," She tried to reason with him.

Her brother simply looked at her before looking back at Derrick. "Let's go," He said, turning his back on the pair as he left the bar.

Sydney sat there for a few moments before turning her head to look at Derrick. "Syd," Derrick said, extending his hand toward her to offer some comfort.

"I have to go," She muttered before walking off after her brother.

Derrick watched her leave with a sigh. Shit, he couldn't imagine the night getting any worse.

* * *

Johnny was ignoring Sydney. Not only was he not speaking to her but he was gone when she woke up Friday morning and didn't return until after she was curled up on the couch that night, her eyes closed as she tried to go to sleep. Before she'd had a chance to utter a single word, Johnny's bedroom door was shut. When she woke up Saturday morning and he was once again missing, she knew he was purposely ignoring her.

And she was, in turn, purposefully ignoring Derrick. He had texted and called her many times but she'd ignored it all. She wanted to talk to him; she wanted to hear what he was thinking about this whole situation and if/how he spoke to Tabatha about what went down. She wanted to know all this but she couldn't. She didn't want to talk to Derrick before she had a chance to smooth things over with Johnny. But that didn't mean she didn't feel bad about not returning his calls or texts; she felt awful.

She didn't know what to do with herself. She didn't just want to sit around the apartment waiting for Johnny to show up so they could talk, but she didn't want to leave and miss him. So she did the only thing she could think of: she called her mom.

Her mom picked up after the first ring, almost as if she was sitting by the phone, waiting for her daughter to call. "Hi," She said jovially. "What a nice surprise,"

"Hi mom," Syd replied.

"How are you?" Her mom asked in genuine wonder. "I haven't heard from you in a while, is everything going ok in Florida?"

"That's kinda why I'm calling…" Syd began. She spent the next twenty minutes or so relaying what her life had been like since she'd moved down here. She purposefully left out the information about Garrett coming to "bring Sydney back", and what a fiasco that had been, because she didn't want to worry or upset her mom. She told her mom about her secret relationship with Derrick and how it had all blown up in both their faces Thursday night when Tabatha had somehow found out about them and outed them in front of a bar full of people. "And now he's not talking to me," Syd continued about Johnny. "He's not even here when I wake up…he's practically ignoring I exist."

Her mother sighed on the other end. "Oh honey, what were you thinking?"

It was Syd's turn to sigh. "Well, I was thinking that I really like this guy and it sucks that he has a girlfriend and he's best friend with Johnny but I can't help how I feel about him…but Mom, even though I feel guilty about all this, I can't help but also feel guilty about feeling guilty because my feelings are so real and deep. I can't remember ever feeling this strongly about a guy and I can't just erase those emotions from my memory, they're trapped in my heart."

Her mother was silent for a few moments as she thought about what her daughter had just told her. "You're going to have to fix this Sydney. You're brother's hurt right now and he's dealing with this the only way that makes sense to him right now, which is ignoring you. You're just going to have to give him time." She went quiet again. "What about Derrick? How's he dealing with all this?"

Another sigh from Sydney as she ran a hand over her face. "I don't know," She groaned out. "I haven't spoken to him since this whole thing went down. He's called, he's left messages, he's texted me…but I just can't pick up or send him a reply. I feel like I can't settle things with him until I settle things with Johnny."

"I think that's a good idea Sydney. But maybe you should give him a call or something just to let him know you're doing ok; I'm sure he's worried about how you're dealing with all this. And if I know your brother the way I think I do, I'm sure he's not talking to Derrick either, so he's kind of the odd man out, living in the dark right now. I think it would be good for you to at least let him know you're alright. Let him know you just need some time to figure things out with your family first."

Sydney soaked in all the advice and a small smile lifted at the corners of her lips. "God, I hate that you're always right Mom,"

She laughed. "Of course I'm always right, I'm your mother,"

After hanging up with her mother, Sydney felt a little better about this situation. Sure, she still had a lot she had to do: a lot of confronting and explaining, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. It was nice to have a little bit of guidance from her mom, someone who really loves her and cares for her.

She picked up her phone, creating a new text message to send to Derrick. It simply read: **I've received your calls and messages, I'm sorry I can't talk to you right now but the very first thing I need to do is work things out with my brother, please understand. I will hopefully be in touch with you very soon. Hope all is well. XOXO, Syd.**

She let out a breath after she hit send. That was a huge weight off her shoulders; at least she wasn't completely ignoring Derrick now. But there was so much more she wanted to know. She wanted to pick up the phone and ask him how he was doing, how he was dealing with all this. She wondered briefly if Johnny was perhaps speaking with him, but then she remembered what her mom said and she had to agree, Johnny was really hurt right now, he probably felt a lot of betrayal and chances were if he were ignoring his own sister, then he was definitely ignoring his best friend. Her mind couldn't help but travel to Tabatha. She was curious if Derrick had spoken to her, and if not, what was he doing with himself? Was he moping around like her? Or keeping busy like Johnny? But, if so, what had Tabatha said? What had he said? Were they back together? Had they reconciled?

"No," She whispered to herself. She couldn't think about that. Derrick staying with Tabatha had to be the least of her worries right now. Her number one priority had to be repairing her relationship with her brother.

* * *

**A/N: Gosh, I can't believe I made you guys wait this long for an update! So Sorry! I don't know what's up with me lately but I just have not been motivated to write at all. Plus, I don't know why but Derrick Bateman season 5 just is not inspiring my quite like Derrick Bateman season 4! I miss the funny Derrick. Anyways, as always, thank you so much for reading and reviewing and sticking with me! Hopefully I can bust out these last few chapters.** :)


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town**

_Chapter 22_

Derrick read the text that Sydney had sent him for, what had to be, the twelfth time since he first received it earlier in the day. Initially he had been relieved to hear from her. She hadn't answered any of his calls or texts since their affair had exploded in their faces two days before, and he had been worried. Not only had he been unsure of where they now stood, he also was worried about the status of her relationship with her brother. No doubt Johnny was upset, and he knew that because the man had also been ignoring all his attempts at contacting him, and Derrick had a feeling that Johnny wasn't cutting his sister any slack. He couldn't help but feel partially responsible; just as he had said Thursday night, the man had trusted Derrick with his sister and he'd turned around and hooked up with her. But it was so much more than hooking up. Which was why he'd read that text message from Syd multiple times today. While initially he had been worried, now he was downright impatient. She said she'd get in contact after she'd smoothed things over with her brother but he wanted to talk to her; he wanted to see her and hold her and kiss her and make love to her.

He sighed and rubbed a hand over her face, tossing his phone onto the couch cushion next to him. He wondered how she was doing and how she was dealing with all this. He wondered if Johnny was speaking to her or just ignoring her completely. He momentarily contemplated calling her, knowing she wouldn't pick up, just to hear the sound of her voice over her voicemail message.

Two hard knocks on his door interrupted his thoughts. He reluctantly got up and walked over to the door, pulling it open. "Tabatha," He said in surprise; this was definitely the last person he expected to come over.

She just glared at him and pushed her way in. "I can't believe you," She said angrily as she turned around to face him. He furrowed his brow, confused at her outburst; was she just going to yell at him again? "I can't believe you haven't tried to talk to me or see me since I found out about your cheating ass! A normal boyfriend would be begging and pleading for me to just hear him out."

She was right. He hadn't called, texted or even gone to her place to see her since she confronted him. It was weird, in a way he wanted to clear his name, but he'd done it, he'd cheated and unfortunately that was something he would have to live with. And he knew she deserved some sort of explanation yet somehow he knew what he was going to say was going to hurt her more and he wanted to spare her of that. She wanted him to beg for forgiveness and she wanted him to plead to take him back. But the truth was, he didn't want that. He'd been unhappy in this relationship for a while, and while it was sad that it had taken him cheating with Sydney to realize it, he was ready for this chapter of his life to be over. And not only was he ready to move on and, hopefully, start a life with Sydney, but Tabatha deserved to start over too; she deserved a guy that was going to cherish her and take her out to fancy dinners where the bill was never under two hundred dollars. She deserved a guy that would listen to her modeling stories as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. She deserved a guy that would appreciate her gifts of pampering and nice clothes. Unfortunately for her and him, he just wasn't that guy.

He shrugged his shoulders guiltily as he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. "Tabatha…I just didn't know what to say."

"Uh, here's an idea…how about sorry? How about, I've made a mistake and I've learned from it, please take me back? How about anything that would imply you actually give a shit!" She exclaimed.

It was pretty clear to Derrick that she'd been stewing over this for days, beyond livid that he hadn't even reached out to her. He looked down guiltily.

"God! I cannot believe you! What happened to you? You used to be so sweet and caring and now…now you're the biggest jackass I've ever met! I don't deserve to be treated like this!" She said, her emotions clear in her voice.

He looked at her and instantly felt horrible. "No, you definitely do not deserve to be treated like this. You deserve way better than me. And I don't think you'll ever truly understand how bad I feel. I've gone about this all the wrong way and I'm sorry. Tabatha, I'm really, very sorry. I wish I could go back and fix all this and make it better,"

"Why did you do this?" She asked sadly, her shoulders dropping defeatedly.

Shit, was he an asshole. "I didn't seek out to intentionally do this but…there was a…a..chemistry between us," He said, struggling to find the right words. "And you and I were having problems and there had been something off between us for months," He paused. "I'm sorry we did things the way we did; I should have been upfront with you about how I was feeling,"

"You weren't even trying Derrick! Yes, we were having problems but it was like you weren't even trying to work through them. I supported your career and-"

He immediately cut her off. He was going to let her berate him all she wanted because frankly he deserved it, but he wasn't going to let her go on telling lies. "Supported my career? How do you figure? You never come to any of my matches and you never watch wrestling with me. The only career you support around here is your own,"

She gasped at the insult. "Well, I have to support it enough for the both of us because you never do!"

"I'm sorry, but of the time we've spent together this past month, I'd say more than three quarters of it is you telling stories about your recent shoots. I do my fair share of supporting your career, Tabby," He said just to get on her nerves. "I buy more than enough magazines, calendars and catalogs; I wish I could say the same thing for you."

"Well honey, if you were in any magazines, calendars and catalogs, I'd buy 'em," She shot back.

Oh, okay, we're going there, he thought to himself angrily. "Well I may not be in those but I am on TV and perform frequently, but you can't bother to watch either of those, can you?"

"God, you are such an asshole!" She exclaimed irritably. "You wanna know the worse thing of all this? It's that I didn't find out about your infidelity from you! I had to find out from one of your coworkers!"

His eyebrow shot up in interest. One of his coworkers? But…that was impossible, no one knew about them. "Who?" He had to know.

"That's not important." She brought her cell phone up to her face and started searching her phone for a certain text message. "They sent me this video of you and that…skank sneaking into a dressing room at the gym, of all places, and you both looked pretty disheveled when you left." She shoved her phone at him and pressed play on the video message.

Someone had been filming them that day? Derrick thought, shocked. Who would do that? And, more importantly, why? He watched the video unfold and like Tabatha said, it showed him entering a changing room just seconds before he yanked Sydney in with him. He fast forward through the almost ten minutes of the camera staying in the same position with no change except people walking in front of the shot. He stopped when he saw Sydney leave the room, quickly adjusting her clothing and hair just minutes before he himself left the room with a shit-eating grin on his face and his clothes just slightly shifted from their original position. Who filmed this, he asked himself again. His eyes glanced up to see who the contact was. No name. So obviously this was not someone who Tabatha talked to, therefore he probably didn't often talk to this person. He burned the phone number into the brain, wanting to get to the bottom of this.

He handed the phone back to his ex. "Listen, I know this sounds really convenient, but the truth is that the same night you confronted me about finding out, I had decided I was going to tell you about Sydney. Don't get me wrong, I know it's not an excuse and I'm not trying to get off the hook or anything, but for what it's worth, I wanted to tell you before you found out from someone else."

"You were a little late," Tabatha said with a frown. "I'm really sorry you did this. We were great together and I know that if we had just spent a little more time working through our problems, then we could have made it together," Derrick held back his own opinion on that. "But we're done. And I'm going to find someone better than you, someone who appreciates me and deserves me and loves me more than anything," She said strongly, squaring her shoulders.

Derrick offered her a quick smile. "I hope you do, I really hope you do. You deserve that,"

She seemed slightly surprised by his answer but nodded curtly before turning and leaving. Derrick waited all of two seconds after the door closed behind her before he was rushing to his phone. He dialed the number as if he knew it by heart and pressed the phone to his ear as it rang. And rang. And rang. Finally the voicemail kicked in and Derrick stopped short, his eyes widening in both surprise and confusion. "Hey, you've reached Kaitlyn, sorry I can't get to your call but leave me a message and I'll call you back. Bye!"

* * *

Johnny walked into his apartment around seven that night, walking in slowly, not wanting to startle his sister. He listened close but didn't hear Sydney; he breathed a sigh of relief. He set his gym bag down by the door before walking into the kitchen, opening the fridge to grab a bottle of water. As he leaned in to grab the bottle, he noticed a sheet of computer paper attached to the fridge by a magnet with his name on it. He closed the fridge and snatched the sheet off the black appliance. He took a swig of water as he read the note, who he could tell by the handwriting, was Syd. It read: _I'm across the hall at Jeff's. Please come and get me when you read this- we need to talk. I love you J. XOXO._

He looked up and for the first time since walking in he saw his sister sprawled out on the couch passed out. She'd obviously been at Jeff's earlier then had come back and forgotten about her note before passing out.

He sighed. He'd been ignoring her and she knew it. He knew she waited here for him all day in hopes that they could talk, only to have him come home while she was asleep and leave in the morning before she woke up.

He felt bad but he couldn't help it, dammit. His sister and Derrick had been going around behind his back for who knows how long. He felt he was entitled to feel more than a little hurt and more than a little upset. He couldn't believe that the two people he trusted most could keep such a huge secret from him. And not only did he feel betrayed by them but he didn't even find out about their little relationship from them- he had to find out from Tabatha, of all people. Words couldn't even describe how betrayed he felt; his best friend should have told him all this…better yet, his sister should have told him all this.

He looked back over at Sydney, who was now snoring softly, and he couldn't help but smile a little. Even though he was mad at her, she was his sister and he loved her, he knew he was going to forgive her eventually. He looked at her sleeping form and while he knew they had to talk, he also had a sinking suspicion that like him, she probably hadn't been sleeping very well these past couple of days, for him personally his thoughts of all this drama had been keeping him up at night. He decided he'd let her get some much needed rest and then they could talk things over in the morning.

He flipped the piece of paper that she had used to write her note to him over and grabbed a pen, writing a note himself. It simply read: _Didn't want to wake you. We'll talk in the morning, I promise._ He took the note and set it on the coffee table in front of the couch where she was sleeping. Johnny looked down at his sister, grabbing one of the throw blankets that were thrown haphazardly on the back of the couch, and gently laid it on top of her before placing a kiss on her forehead and heading off to bed himself.

* * *

**A/N: As always, thank you so much for reading and/or reviewing! Glad you guys are enjoying this story.  
**


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town**

_Chapter 23_

When Sydney's eyes opened in the morning, she silently berated herself. What was she doing going to sleep? She had been determined to stay awake until Johnny came home and they could talk things through. She sat up and looked around, fully expecting to see Johnny's door wide open, signaling that he had once again left, which was truly awful because he was heading back on the road today and last night had essentially been her last chance for four days. But to her surprise, his bedroom door was closed tight. Then, out of the corner of her eye she saw a slip of paper on the coffee table with her name on it. Her eyes skimmed it and she smiled softly, happy to see her brother seemed to be coming around and was at least ready to hear her say about the situation.

Sydney glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly eight in the morning and knowing her brother never slept in, she had a feeling he'd be up very soon. She got up, went into the kitchen and began making them both breakfast so they could eat while talking things over.

Twenty minutes later, with her waffles cooking in the waffle iron, her bacon sizzling on the stove and her eggs scrambled and in a pan cooking, her brother emerged from his bedroom looking sleepy wearing just a pair of sweatpants. She grabbed the ingredients she'd pulled out earlier to make his morning smoothie and poured them in the blender as she offered him a soft smile that spoke of happiness after not seeing her brother for a few strained days, and also of skepticism of how her brother would react to her after the whole thing with Derrick had gone down. "Hey," She said softly.

Johnny looked over as he ran a hand through his hair and smiled back. "Morning," He said sleepily, walking over to her and taking a seat on the bar stool that overlooked the kitchen as Sydney fired up the blender, mixing all the ingredients together. They sat in silence, the only sound the loud groan of the blender, and only when the smoothie was fully mixed and she was pouring it in a glass did one of them speak.

"Sleep good?" She asked.

"Well, better than I've slept the past couple of nights," He admitted, taking a sip of the morning drink she'd set in front of him. "What about you?"

"About the same. I'm surprised I passed out so easily last night; it's been taking me hours to fall asleep these days," She replied. The siblings chatted aimlessly as she finished cooking breakfast. She made up two plates of the food and they made their way to the kitchen table to enjoy their food.

Johnny knew it was time for them to talk. "Listen," He began. "I'm just going to get straight down to it. First of all, I just want you to know, I'm sorry I've been ignoring you these past couple of days. It's messed up, I realize that now, but I really just needed some time to think things over. I shouldn't have ignored you like that though and I'm sorry." He said watching her face for some sort of reaction.

Sydney smiled at her big brother. "J, it's ok; I completely understand, you needed some space and it's not easy sharing a place with someone who disappointed you." The look he shot her told her that she didn't disappoint him.

"The main thing I want to say," He continued, "Is that you have to believe me when I tell you I was completely thrown off guard when I found out about this. And the thing is, I am totally cool with the two of you dating; I get it. I saw it the first couple of weeks that you were interested in him and it was easy to see he was into you too; I get it. But what hurt was that you kept it a secret and that I had to find out from fucking Tabatha, of all people. I would have rather heard this news from you."

"Johnny," She spoke up. "I know; I know we should have told you. But you should know that it was me that was the most hesitant to tell you. Derrick and I had just very recently had a couple conversations and he planned on breaking up with Tabatha and we were going to tell you but I was really unsure how you would take the whole thing."

"But why?" Johnny asked. "Why would you be hesitant to tell me? Syd, you know you can tell me anything," He reminded her.

"It was just how things ended with me and Garrett. You let me date your friend then and it's my fault that you two aren't friends any more. I'm scared I'm going to cost you another friendship," She told him honestly.

"Oh come on now Sydney, do you really believe that? I wish it hadn't of been you that had dated Garrett and I wish that he didn't do those awful things to you. But it's because he did do those things and that you were strong enough to make it through that I now know what kind of a guy he is and I know now that I never want to be friends with that sonofabitch ever again. And most of all, I regret ever introducing you to that douchebag." Johnny paused as he chewed on a bite of scrambled egg. "Derrick's not the same guy Sydney, trust me. It's not going to be like it was with Garrett. You're not going to cause us to lose our friendship. A guy physically abusing you is a good reason for a friendship to end; worst case scenario between you and Derrick, a relationship taking its course and naturally ending wouldn't result in Derrick and I not being friends."

Sydney mulled on this as she continued eating her breakfast. "So…what you're saying is that Derrick and I have your blessing?"

Johnny smiled. "Of course you do; truthfully, I think he's the one for you." Which of course resulted in a huge hug from Syd.

"So have you talked to him yet? Worked things out?" She asked as she sat back down in her chair.

"Not yet; he's sent me a couple texts but I didn't want to talk to him until I'd worked things out with you. I'll probably talk to him at the show tonight," Johnny said. "What about you? Have you talked to him? Is he doing alright?"

She shrugged. "I haven't talk to him. I wanted to talk to you first as well."

"Poor guy. Wonder if he's spoken to Tabatha," He thought aloud and Sydney just shrugged.

* * *

That same night Johnny walked into the men's locker room, setting his things down next to Derrick. "Can I talk to you in the hall for a second?" He asked his friend.

Derrick looked up upon hearing his name and stared at his best friend in bewilderment. He looked over both should just to be sure Johnny was in fact talking to him. Finally when he realized he was the only other person in the room who wasn't on his phone or with his nose stuffed in a book, he nodded and followed his friend out to the hall.

Once the two men were standing in a somewhat secluded hall Johnny started the conversation. "Listen, I've talked to my sister and we're cool…sorry I haven't reached out to you…but I needed to fix things with her first.

Derrick nodded in understanding as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, she told me the same thing," He replied.

Johnny nodded. "Derrick, we've been friends for years, since the very first day we met. And I honestly have no problem with you seeing my sister; you two actually seem pretty compatible. But where I take offense in this whole thing is the secretive way you hid your relationship. You should have been up front with me and told me you were interested in her, just as a courtesy. I'm still her brother.

Derrick nodded along with everything he said and ran a hand over his curly hair as he spoke. "I know man, I'm really sorry. I wanted to tell you but it was awkward with me still being with Tabatha and I knew you wouldn't be too happy about me dating your sister while I was still with my girlfriend. And then Sydney was hesitant to tell you; she wasn't sure how you'd react…but trust me man…Johnny, I wanted to tell you. I just couldn't find the right time or the right way."

Johnny nodded. "Well let's just put this whole thing behind us then," He smiled. "I realize there was more to your relationship with Sydney. I know you had to sneak around, I just wish you felt you could have told me." He paused. "So we're cool? I mean you're my best friend and I don't want this to change things." He said with a smile and his hand extended in a peace offering.

Derrick smirked back. "Are you kidding? We were never uncool." He said before thrusting his hand into his friends and they shook before also partaking in a quick manhug, shoulder slap.

"So, just out of curiosity, did you smooth things over with Tabatha?" Johnny asked.

"Sure did," Derrick said before grinning. "Kicked her to the curb."

Johnny smirked back. "It's about damn time! Shit, if I knew you were gonna go for Syd and dump that witch, I would have brought her down here a long time ago."

As the pair were making their way back to the locker room, Derrick suddenly remembered the text message he'd seen on Tabatha's phone. "Oh, hey!" He said, as he turned to his friend stopping him in his tracks. "Did you ever wonder how Tabatha found out about me and Syd?"

Johnny thought it over before nodding. "Yeah I did think it was kind of weird that she randomly found out,"

Derrick looked at Johnny with a serious expression. "It was Kaitlyn, dude. Kaitlyn saw Syd and me going into a changing room at the gym, she videotaped it and then fucking sent it to Tabatha,"

"Wow," Johnny said as he ran a hand over his face. "Are you serious? What on earth would possess her to do that?"

"Shit if I know," Derrick said as he threw his hands up in the air.

"As far as I know, I don't have any beef with this woman and I can't imagine Sydney does; those two were friends for a while." He thought it over for a second. "I think I'm gonna have to go investigate on this," Johnny said. "I don't like someone intentionally trying to hurt my sister and my best friend."

"Be sure to let me know what you find out. I'm pretty curious myself," Derrick said as they pushed through the locker room door.

Johnny nodded as the two walked over to their things, immediately going through their bags to find their gear. "So," Johnny said casually. "Do you plan on officially asking out my sister?"

Derrick couldn't help but chuckle. "I sure do,"

* * *

Later that day, about an hour into the show, Johnny made his way to the Diva's locker room, knocking twice. Natalya opened the door, smiling wide when she saw who it was. "Hey Johnny, what's up?" She asked amicably.

Johnny was fond of Natalya but he was in no mood for small talk. He diverted his gaze from the woman at the door and instead his eyes searched the room, looking for the one woman he had a bone to pick. Once he saw Kaitlyn his scowl deepened and his eyes grew dark with anger. "Would you ladies give me and Kaitlyn a minute alone?" He asked, grateful that there were only four or five of them in there right now; if the whole lot of them had been present, he knew he would have gotten a lot of attitude. Luckily the other women saw that the two obviously had something to talk about and they left no problem.

Once alone Kaitlyn smiled wide. "Hey you," She said happily as she stepped closer to him. "You need to see me?" She asked as she put a hand on his chest intimately.

He slapped her hand away with a shake of his head. "What the hell is your problem?"

She frowned slightly. "I'm sorry? Did I do something to upset you?" She asked, confused.

"Don't you play dumb with me," He said pointing his finger at her accusingly. "Why the hell would you think it's ok to stick your nose in my sister and best friend's business? Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Her expression cooled: her eyes darkened and her lips pursed as she realized what her ex was talking about. "Oh…that,"

"Yeah that," He said with an exaggerated nod of his head.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Well you know what Johnny? It's your fault that all that came out?"

"My fault? How is it my fault when you're the one who sent that video to Tabatha?" He asked incredulously.

"You wouldn't listen to me! You wouldn't give me a chance to explain and make things right! I just wanted a second chance and you wouldn't even give me the time of day!" She exclaimed, stomping her foot for emphasis. "I had to do something to hurt you! To hurt those closest to you! And I was just at the gym one day, minding my own business, when out of the corner of my eye I see the two of them disappear one after the other. I did Tabatha a favor, she deserved to know Derrick was cheating on her,"

"He was going to tell her! It wasn't your place!" Johnny fought back.

"Maybe not but I felt a responsibility as a woman to not let our gender be treated like that," She replied.

Johnny barked out a laugh and ran an irritated hand through his hair. "Oh that is rich coming from you." He said finding it funny that the woman who cheated on him was preaching about not cheating. "Listen to me you little bitch," He said getting in her face and lowering the tone of his voice. "You have a problem with me, fine, I'll deal with it. But don't you dare come after my friends or family. I want you to stay away from me and Sydney and if I ever hear you so much as looked at my sister, I will not hesitate to make your life miserable," He warned menacingly.

Kaitlyn was clearly a little nervous at his words but she still hoisted her chin high. "Oh yeah? And how do you plan on doing that?"

Frankly he didn't know, but if that time ever came, he knew he would think of something. "Don't test me. Stay away from me and my family," He repeated. "You really messed up this time. You can screw with me but don't ever fuck with my sister. After I leave this room, I want you to pretend we don't know each other, we've never even met," He ordered. He pulled back to give her a stare that told her he was really done with her for good, forever.

* * *

**A/N: OMG, I updated! I hardly believe it myself! Sorry it took me FOREVER and a day to update but ending this was a struggle for me. I literally have had this word document opened on my computer since Halloween and I've just been writing a little bit at a time. Luckily I got a little bit of a push a finished this weekend. One reason it took so long was I decided to post the last two chapters at the same time so you wouldn't have to put up with my erratic updating again for this story. Thanks a bunch for everyone who has read and reviewed and stuck with me, I'm glad you enjoyed this story!**


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**New in Town**

_Chapter 24_

* * *

**_A/N: Just want to note that I posted two chapters today so make sure you read chapter 23 before this one!_**

* * *

****Wednesday afternoon Sydney made her way across the hall to go hang out with Jeff and Dex while she waited for her brother come home. She could hardly sit still in that apartment by herself as a million thoughts rushed through her head wondering if Johnny had talked to Derrick. And if he had, had it gone well? If it hadn't gone well then what was she going to do?

She had just settled in for a game of domino's with Jeff when she heard loud knocking coming from across the hall. "Who could that be?" She mumbled to herself as she made her play before walking over to the door to see who was knocking on her door. She briefly thought maybe Johnny was back and he'd just forgotten his key but as she pressed close to the peep hole she gasped silently in shock. She subconsciously reached up to secure the deadbolt before taking a scared step back.

"What? Who is it?" Jeff asked noticing the young woman's trepidation.

"It's, uh, it's my ex," She said as she walked back over to the table, taking a much needed seat. "I don't know what he could want," She said even as her brain reminded her of the last time they'd spoke at the diner downtown. He wanted her to come home. But that wasn't going to happen; Johnny would never allow it. Except Johnny wasn't here. Shit.

"Oh," Jeff said knowingly as he remembered the things she had told him about her ex. "Well I'm sure he'll go away once he realizes no one is home."

A minute later there was a knock on his door. Sydney's eyes widened while Jeff was the picture of calm. "It's ok, you hide behind the door while I talk to him." He said in a quiet voice. There was another knock. "Oh I'm coming, I'm coming," He said in his usually grumpy tone. The two walked over to the door, Sydney standing just off to the side where the door would block her frame. Jeff swung open the door, narrowing his eyes at the man standing across from him. "What do you want?"

Garrett paused at the old man's harsh tone. "Looking for your neighbors across the hall. You seen them around today?"

"What do you want with them?" He asked.

Garrett smiled to get the man off his back. "I've been dating Sydney for years, we recently had a fight and I just wanted to come by and fix things." On the other side of the door, Sydney was visibly shaking; she just wanted her brother…or Derrick; they made her feel safe.

"Well I ain't seen them; I suppose if they ain't answering they ain't home," Jeff said, wanting this man to leave.

Garrett stared at the man. Something was off. His eyes scanned the room, looking for something unusual. Bingo. "You got company?"

Jeff frowned. "No,"

Garrett smiled smugly. "You playing domino's against yourself?"

Jeff didn't let the question faze him. "I'm an old man that has no family or friends. Who else have I got to play with?" He played the old and lonely card. Worked like a charm.

Oddly enough, Garrett believed the man. He didn't seem like the most friendly of guys so he wasn't surprised he had no one in his life. Yet there was still something off about him. "Listen old man, I'm not in the mood for your games so you better tell me if you know where she is,"

Jeff met his gaze. "Well, I haven't seen anyone leave or go inside that apartment all day,"

Garrett nodded. "I hope you're telling me the truth, I'd hate to have to hurt you,"

"Yeah, whatever," Jeff said before closing the door. "Whatta prick," He said as he wrapped an arm around Sydney, escorting her to the couch. "Here," He said handing her her phone. "Why don't you call your brother, let him know what's going on,"

"He might still be flying," She said even as she scrolled through her contacts to his name. She took comfort when Dex jumped on the couch next to her, putting his head on her lap.

"Just give him a call," Jeff insisted as he looked through the peep hole to see if the man was gone. He wasn't.

* * *

"You sure Sydney won't mind me stopping by with you?" Derrick asked as Johnny pulled his car out of the airport parking lot.

"Please, mind? She is probably hoping that I bring you by." Johnny said with a laugh.

Derrick couldn't help but smile. The men stayed relatively silent the next few minutes as they headed in the direction of home. Moments later Derrick's phone rang loudly. He pulled it out of his back pocket, putting on a surprised face as he saw Sydney's name staring back at him. "Sydney?" He answered.

"Derrick! Sorry to call you but I was trying to reach my brother and he wasn't answering so I was wondering if he was with you?" She asked, silently hoping they had patched up their friendship.

"Yeah he's right here," He said into his phone before facing his friend. "Sydney's been trying to call you,"

Johnny frowned and safely fished his phone out of his pocket all the while keeping his eyes on the road. He quickly glanced down at his phone and noticed he must have forgotten to turn it back on after their flight. "Forgot to turn it on. What's up, does she need me to pick something up?" He asked.

Derrick relayed the question back to Sydney.

She let out a breath and ran a hand through her hair. "Listen, um, there's kind of a problem over here and I wanted to warn him before he got here."

Derrick instantly tensed, hearing her worry. "What happened?"

"Garrett…is here, waiting outside our apartment door," She explained.

"What?" Derrick immediately exploded.

"What?" Johnny questioned curiously at his friends response.

"Garrett is waiting outside your apartment," Derrick told his friend.

Johnny's blood immediately started boiling. "What? Is she ok?"

"I'm fine!" She said upon hearing her brother's question. "I'm fine, luckily I was across the hall at Jeff's but he knocked on Jeff's door and was asking where I was,"

"So he's looking for you?" Derrick asked after he told Johnny what Syd had told him.

She let out a breath. "Pretty much." She was silent for a minute. "I don't know what to do. I'm pretty sure he just wants me to go back home with him, maybe I should go with him just to get him off Johnny's back,"

"Is that what you want to do?" Derrick asked, practically heartbroken.

"No," She whispered.

"Then you're not going to do that. We'll be there in like ten minutes, sit tight, we'll take care of this,"

She nodded. "Ok, I'll try,"

He gulped at the words that were about to come out of his mouth. "I love you Sydney," He said before hanging up.

"Really you're going to drop that bomb on her right now? When she can't even respond?" Johnny asked as he caught what his friend said.

"It felt right, alright? Besides she was saying she was thinking of just going with Garrett back home. If she decided to go, I couldn't not tell her,"

Johnny set his jaw in concentration as he weaved around slow cars, intending to get home as fast as possible. "That's not going to happen. Buckle up,"

* * *

Jeff and Sydney had been huddled at the door for just over five minutes, watching Garrett through the peep hole. He seemed to be getting irritable and impatient and it wasn't long before they saw him start to jiggle to knob to see if it was open. Damn her for forgetting to lock it, she cursed herself as she watched the door swing open.

"You didn't lock your door?" Jeff scolded her in an angry whisper.

"I was just coming over here! I wasn't expecting him to come over!" She defended in a loud whisper, not wanting Garrett to hear her. They watched as the man in the hall looked both ways before walking into Johnny's apartment, closing the door behind him. "Dammit," She mumbled as she walked away from the door.

* * *

"Johnny, man, you sure you don't want to slow down a little bit and think about what you're about to do?" Derrick asked as he clutched onto the handle above his head for dear life as Johnny speedily pulled the car into a parking spot.

"What's there to think about? I'm gonna go up there and kick his ass," He said as he got out of the car and began marching toward the building, Derrick hot on his heels. "Listen, I want you to call the cops,"

"What?" Derrick exploded, grabbing his friends arm to stop him from going further. "What the hell are you gonna do?"

"The cops are for that asshole's safety, so I don't kill him. Anyway, after you call them go to Jeff's and make sure Syd is doing ok," He didn't give his friend much time to protest because as soon as the words were out of his mouth he was off to go beat some ass.

Upon entering the hallway, he noticed it was empty. He knew the man hadn't left so he must have somehow gotten into the apartment. Johnny slowly walked down the hall; he glanced at Jeff's door and wanted to go inside to check on his sister but he knew the best thing he could do right now was to take care of Garrett. He twisted the knob of his door, pushing it open. He took a tentative step inside when he saw the man in question sitting on his couch with the remote in his hands, idly flipped through the channels. "Hey man, gotta say, this is a real nice place you got here." Garrett said with a wide smile as he faced his one-time friend. "Though a bigger TV would do you a lot of good,"

Johnny took a few long strides that set him right in front of the man. In a matter of moments he'd reached out and punched the guy square in the jaw. Garrett clenched his fists together in anger before standing up and facing Johnny. "I'm not here to cause trouble. I just want to fix things with Sydney and then take her back home."

Johnny stepped closer to the man so they were nose to nose. "Listen to me and listen to me closely prick, Sydney is done with you. She's been done with you for a long time and there is no way in hell she is leaving here with you."

"I think Sydney can make her own decision," Garrett shot back.

"She has made her decision. She's staying here whether you like it or not. She's through with you," Johnny stated as fact.

Garrett let out a sarcastic laugh moving his hands to rest on Johnny's shoulders where he shoved him back a couple feet.

Johnny stumbled to get his balance. When he did he smiled evilly at the man. "I'm so glad you did that," He said before launching himself at Garrett, taking him down in a spear. He began his attack throwing punches right and left hitting the man on the face a couple times before focusing on his stomach. When he heard the faint sound of police sirens he stopped himself. Luckily the man had shoved him before he'd attacked so he could claim self-defense but killing the guy wouldn't do Johnny any favors. He delivered a rough knee to Garrett's crotch just to make sure the man didn't get up before the cops showed up. Garrett groaned in pain and his hands immediately grasped his crotch. "Now you listen to me again," Johnny said as he got in the man's face. "The cops are going to take you in but once you get out, I want you to get your shit and go back home. If I ever hear that you came around my sister or my mother," He added as he remembered when he'd harassed his mother at her home. "ever again, I will hunt you down. You understand me?" He asked. When the man didn't say anything Johnny dug his knee painfully back into Garrett's crotch. "Do you understand?" He asked again, slowly. Garrett nodded. "Good, you better hope I never see you again," Johnny said before standing up as he heard the loud thump of police footsteps running towards his apartment.

The police were at Johnny's open door in no time and he instantly held up his hands. "Self-defense," He said loudly, wanting them to know he wasn't dangerous. The police inspected him before pulling him out in the hall, away from Garrett where they looked him over.

* * *

Derrick stood in Jeff's kitchen drinking a bottle of water as he watched the police interview Sydney. After being questioned, Johnny had come over to check on his sister and explain that he had told the police of Garrett's abusive past with her in order to get the police to understand why the man was such a threat and they now wanted Syd to tell them all the details of their abusive relationship.

Derrick leaned down to pet Dex, who was sitting by him hoping he would give him some food, and when he straightened back up Sydney was standing before him with a smile on her face. Before he even knew what was happening, Sydney was hugging her body to his and pressing her lips to his. They both moaned simultaneously into the kiss, loving the way their lips fit together. When she pulled back, Derrick rested his forehead on hers. "Damn I missed that,"

She smiled. "Did you mean it?" Derrick knew without even having to ask that she was talking about him dropping the 'I love you' bomb on her earlier.

"I wanted to tell you face to face but…I just had to tell you then," He explained as he ran his hand over her hair.

"I love you too," She whispered against his lips before kissed again.

"So this is what I have to look forward to?" Johnny asked as he walked up to the kissing couple.

The pair pulled away guiltily. Syd glanced between the two men. "Are you guys ok?"

Johnny nodded. "I just hope we can all be honest now," Syd couldn't help but thrust herself out of Derrick's arms and into Johnny's.

"Thank you," She said as she pressed a kiss to his cheek. He knew she was talking about both giving Derrick and her his blessing, as well as getting rid of Garrett for good.

"Hey, what are brothers for?" He responded.

"Ok enough of all this sentimental crap," Jeff said walking towards the group. "Are we going to finish our game of domino's or what?" He asked Sydney.

They laughed and followed the old man back to the table where their game of domino's had paused. "We're not going to be able to sneak away any time soon are we?" Derrick whispered into Sydney's ear.

She smiled at him and lovingly caressed his cheek. "Not a chance, lover boy,"


End file.
